10-Meters
by alitablake
Summary: Technology was something to be enjoyed and be excited about. With every new advanced, society was getting better, smarter, healthier, lovelier? Wait? What? The release of this new app takes the guess work out of love and the three LoveMe girls are now forced to face things that were better off hidden. What will Kyoko do now that she can't hide anymore?
1. Nightmare

**A/N:Hello everyone! I have a new story for you to hopefully enjoy. This is incorporation two works of art, taking the concept of one and forcing it into the Skip Beat world. With that being said:  
**

**I ****do NOT own Skip Beat or Love Alarm.**

**There is a new show on Netflix that was based on a webtoon called Love Alarm. When I watched the show I HAD to write a Skip Beat story involving our favorite characters using it. Because let's face it, you know Lori would do anything to have this app. I do highly recommend watching this show if you haven't already.**

**I do hope you enjoy this smash up. Love, AB.**

* * *

_Exposed. _

_She felt like she was naked and vulnerable to everything and everyone around her. But there was no one there, everything was dark, black. _

_Her arms closed in around her trying to shelter herself and felt cloth. She was clothed but she couldn't see it. It was too dark to see anything, not even hands right in front of her face. She was wearing clothes but she still felt unprotected, alone, and afraid. _

"_Hello?" Her voice echoed through the dark and faded away in the distance. Wherever she was, there was nothing around her. The floor felt flat and completely smooth under her feet, which were bare, but the floor was not cold. In fact, there was no reason for it to be so cold. There was no wind, nothing around her radiated the cold indicating a source. Nevertheless, she was cold. _

_She sat down on the ground, too scared to explore and get into more trouble than she already was. She sat and waited, wishing she had a blanket or something, anything to cover herself up with. The more she sat, the more she felt everyone watching her. _

_Suddenly there was a beep – a bell-like ding that sounded in the distance. She moved up to her hands and knees and strained her eyes to try and see, to find out where the little sound came from. _

"_Hello?!" she called out again, louder this time and moved forward a little. Her knees and hands moved over a clean smooth floor. _

"_Is anyone there?" She asked and a bright light pierced her vision forcing to sit back on her knees, shielding her eyes. _

_The light became brighter and brighter until it finally filled the area. She blinked and instantly felt relieved as she recognized the large LME lobby. She smiled and started to stand but then noticed everyone was standing around her in a large circle. _

"_What?" she whispered as she stood up, looking all around her. Faceless people all stared, pointed and gestured at her all with unrecognizable whispered words. She twisted around and stopped at a tall figure standing closest to her. Ren stood tall with this head hanging down looking at something in his hand. She had to twist around him to look at what it was, curiosity forcing her forward. The look on his face showed such sorrow, regret, and disappointment. What could it have been?_

_A single side step allowed her to see that his hand was holding his phone, but she didn't see what was on the screen that was causing that look on his face. _

_She took a single step forward and again she heard that sound, a single Chime rang through the room causing everyone around her to gasp. She looked around confused and realized that the sound was a notification, one that came from her own phone. She stopped to look at it but before she could see what was on her phone, her eyes caught sight of something straight out of a horror movie. _

_Her eyes widened and she instantly dropped her phone with a crash. Her breath came in and out of her in a maddening rush as she stared at her heart. Her living, beating heart was displayed for all the world to see. Her chest had a hole cut out of her, leaving her heart blood covered and exposed, pumping wildly in front of the world. It was beating loud, taking over all the sounds in the room and getting bigger and bigger. Nothing she did could hide it. She looked up to Ren hoping to get help, help to the hospital or simply to understand, but he shook his head and turned away from her. _

_"HELP ME!"_


	2. The App

"HELP ME!"

Kyoko jerked awake screaming out into her empty bedroom alone and safe in her room. She was panting from adrenaline looking around for the people, for Ren and then she finally looked down. Her hands reached up to her chest and felt her body whole and intact. She pulled her shirt away from her so she could see and gratefully saw flawless skin. No hole, no bloody beating heart.

She flopped back onto her futon when the Taisho and Okami-san came rushing in.

"Kyoko-chan? Are you okay?" She asked in a panic worried about their charge.

Kyoko jerked up and immediately bowed down. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I had a nightmare. I'm sorry for scaring you like that."

The Taisho grunted and left but his wife stayed still concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm okay. It was just a dream," she reassured the older woman with a small smile while her fingers gingerly touched her chest over her heart. "A freaky creepy dream," she added with a little haunted whisper.

A frown wrinkled Okami-san's brow. "Are you sure? Sometimes talking about it helps, it looks like you are still shaken up by it," she said gently trying to help.

Kyoko smiled. "No, it's fine. Really. In fact, I'm starting to forget the details of it. Thank you for the concern, but I'll be okay. It was just a dream."

The dream was forgotten before she finished getting dressed. She found a message on her phone which made her believe that is where the beeping from her dream came from. It was from Sawara-san.

**Mogami-chan, a meeting with LoveMe has been called by President Takarada. It starts at 8:30 today. **

She was free but would have to leave now to make it on time. She was instantly happy that she would get to see Moko-san and Amamiya-san too. The scariest part of it was meeting with the President. A LoveMe meeting always meant the worst for the three girls and no doubt that her two cellmates would be in a bad mood because of it.

"But maybe…." Kyoko murmured to herself, grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

She arrived at LME with a white paper bag ready to counter whatever it is that the president has for them with sweet treats. Even with the bad dream and the apprehension inside of her about what the president will say, the day seemed like it would be a good day. Everyone around her was in high spirits. Lots of people were laughing and hugging on the street on the way to the bakery. The news reports were talking about good stories and new products coming to Japan. She really didn't have much time to listen, because she really was running late. It was crowded on the streets and everyone seemed rather distracted making it to where she had to be extra careful biking down the road.

It seemed the distracted parties were also in LME. Lots of people were on the phone getting notifications left and right all around her. Something exciting must have been happening with everyone texting and emailing each other almost simultaneously.

With only a minute to spare, Kyoko opened the door to the president's office and quickly rushed to her seat next to the other two LoveMe girls.

"Good Morning!" Kyoko merrily greeted them as she sat down next to Moko-san and looked around. It seemed that Takarada had not yet made his appearance, saving her from being late. "How long have you been waiting here? Do you know what this is about?"

Kanae groaned and folded her arms over her chest, closing herself off.

Chiori sighed and leaned forward to look at Kyoko past Kanae. "Have you seen the news today?"

"Um, no. I barely had enough time to get ready before getting here," Kyoko replied a little unsure.

Kanae twisted her eyes over to Kyoko and zeroed onto the white bag on her lap. "You had time to get whatever that is."

Kyoko smiled widely. "Yes! I knew this would put a damper on today, so I thought to rival it with these." She pulled out a single taiyaki and cheered, "Ta-da!"

Chiori gave her a weak smile and took the first baked fish-shaped cake and quietly murmured, "Thanks, Kyoko-san, but this is much worse than you think. Today, they released this new app and…."

Kyoko took out the second taiyaki out the package as Chiori spoke and then jerked in surprise when Kanae interrupted.

"No," Kanae commanded as she jerked a hand up for Chiori to stop. "She should find out from the President. It will be a nice surprise," she said maliciously making Kyoko pout a little hurt.

"It's that bad? What is it?" Kyoko whined. "Why won't you tell me? Both of you seem to know, why can't I?"

"Because of this," Kanae retorted and snatched the sweet calorie-filled cake from Kyoko's fingers. "Why do you always eat sugar as a coping mechanism? Eating ice cream to bond. Bringing sweet bean cakes fresh from the bakery," Kanae said as she pulled apart the soft bread in her fingers with her eyes and mouth drooling at the sight.

"Do you honestly think this is going to make me feel better?" she exclaimed and took a bite then moaned at the taste.

Kyoko hid a smile behind her hand and then proceeded to fish out the last taiyaki for herself. She ripped the tail off and ate it.

Chiori chimed in again, "We should at least warn her. Kyoko-san, there is this new app that was released today that is apparently a huge hit in Korea. It's called…"

There were a huge bang and a bright flash of light causing all three girls to be stunned back into their seat blinking. It was too late. Red, white, and pink streamers, paper hearts, and cupids cut-outs all fell around them covering every little inch of his office with vain day decorations and it was June. He came out wearing an obnoxiously pink suit as bright and eye-piercing as their jumpers. Once their eyes adjusted, they could tell the suit was perfect, tailor-made for him and him alone. A crisp white shirt hid underneath a matching pink jacket and pants. The lapels of the jacket were sparkling pink glitter though were probably tiny pink gems. The buttons were heart-shaped made again with brilliant tiny red gems. Kyoko was afraid to look too closely for fear that they were real. Finally, there were bright red dress shoes that were shiny enough to reflect the light from every source in the room.

"LOVE ALARM!" Lori announced in his full glory just bursting at the seams with excitement.

"Love…alarm…." Kyoko mocked making Lori's eyes snap over to her, and she quickly took a bite of her snack in order to hide. Neither of the other girls said anything because they already knew. They already knew the horror that was about to befall them.

"Love Alarm. The latest app just released in Japan that lets you know the moment that special someone enters in a 10-meter radius that they are madly, truly, in love with you. Love is in the air and now everyone can show their love by simply stepping into their circle and a little bell will alert the party that someone loves them! And the best part of it," Lori gushed as he wrapped his arms around himself in a hug, "The alarm will ring in perfect unison if a love match is made. The two people who are were too shy to share their love can now pursue their relationship knowing that their affections are returned and…" Lori looked at the girls.

Chiori looked sick, looking a little green and holding her stomach as if she were about to have a repeat tasting of her taiyaki.

Kanae looked angry, sitting ramrod straight in her seat in the middle of the couch radiating waves of heat like a volcano about to burst.

Finally, Kyoko looked pale. Ghostly pale as if she had truly died and was now floating there looking like she was about to die again.

An overstuffed brilliant red chair was set behind him and as if it was expected, Lori sat down as if it were a throne. Honestly, it should be more of a question as to how one man was able to carry out the heavy looking item all by himself. However, that was the furthest thing on anyone's mind.

"Bring them out," Lori stated casually and Ruto disappeared.

All the girls braced themselves as the man reappeared with three small boxes. He bowed down in front of them and held out the stacked boxes for them.

The three girls obediently took a box and mumbled a word of thanks. Chiori, who was the first to finish the taiyaki, opened the box.

"Phones?" the other girls looked at her lap since they weren't finished yet and then looked up at Lori confused. Chiori added, "I just bought a new phone. It's just an app, right? You can download it on any recent phone."

"Yes, and I do believe your phone could handle it if you recently purchased it; however, Mogami-kun and Kotonami-kun will need an upgrade. And while I'm sure your phone can use it, these are special."

Kyoko didn't really want to eat anymore but forced herself to finish the heavy, no longer tasty taiyaki. It threatened to choke her as it slid down her throat and thumped into her stomach like lead. Now finished, she opened the box.

While none of the girls really wanted to delve any deeper into this, they had to. They had to know what they were being enforced to do.

"Special how?" Chiori was the only one willing to speak. Kanae was too afraid of what she was going to say in her current state and Kyoko lost her voice completely.

"Well," Lori started already sounding smug, "other than them being the most recent model with all of the bells and whistles. Love Alarm is already installed into each of your phones and is just waiting to synchronize to your heart."

Kyoko looked at the phone in the box, dark and slick nestled in the cardboard holder. Rather than touching it, her hand tentatively touched her chest, right where the hole was in her dream.

Lori continued, "I promise that you will love this phone too and we will reimburse you the cost of the other phone. They are all ready and we will have you transfer your numbers to them before you leave this office," Lori informed them.

Kanae swallowed and very carefully spoke, "What is it that we have to do with this?"

Lori smiled. "Nothing. Isn't it wonderful? Just leave the app on and go about your day as normal. The phone will only chime if someone who loves you gets within 10 meters from you."

Kanae's lip twitched in a sneer. "And what do you expect us to do after it beeps."

"It chimes," Lori clarified. "It rings like a bell, a delicate chime that signals the start of a beautiful romance. You may do whatever you wish. Seek out the person who rang your alarm, see if perhaps you rang theirs too," he said suggestively.

None of the girls found that humorous and they all stared miserably at the box in different stages of unwrapping. Chiori had already taken it out but not turned it on, Kyoko had it open and Kanae hasn't touched it beyond placing the box on her lap.

Kanae huffed and threw caution into the wind or at least across the room. She hated this. Hated that she was being forced to put on an app that would tell her how many men out there lusted after her. Dinging for every stupid person out there that falls in love with her looks, and she hated what it was doing to her best friend. Kanae glanced over to Kyoko who looked shell shocked at the ticking time bomb in her lap.

"What prevents us from deleting the app immediately? Or simply shutting it off? You want something from this, from us, something more than you are letting on. Do you want a report? Are you going to force us to date whoever's bell we…."

"Don't you **dare **finish that statement," Lori threatened and Kanae backed down, even squirmed in her seat a little.

It was Lori's turn to sigh. "You can't delete it. That's what makes the phone special. It is the first app that loads every time you open your phone. You can't turn off the app either. A special request to the developer provided a small patch to be applied to your accounts. You can, however, silence them. I do not want them to jeopardize any filming. Do not shut off your phone. You cannot change your phone or move your number to a different phone. Otherwise…" He didn't finish and they didn't need him to finish the statement. They never wanted to test this man and see what his unspoken warnings were all about. The man was powerful in this business, too powerful and normally his games were not harmful. Normally. As the girls did nothing, he stood up and started to pace in front of them.

"Ladies, you should be excited about this. You'll get to see love being sprouted all around you. You'll be able to know the moment romance is possible with someone you might never have expected," he explained.

"You mean lust, right?" Kanae retaliated. "This thing measures our heart rate and if we see someone that excites us then it makes their phone beep."

"NO!" Lori snapped almost angrily. "This isn't about sex, this is about love. It doesn't measure the heart rate, it factors in all…," he shook his head, "It doesn't matter. I simply want you to embrace what it is trying to do. Just to let you know that there is love out there." He looked directly down at Kyoko while she was still looking blankly at the phone. "That there is someone out there for everyone. The possibilities are out there."

Chiori again spoke, "So we get new phones and use the stu…. Err" she stuttered and corrected herself, "keep the app open and that's it?"

"Basically," he confirmed and watched them. None of them moved and Lori was getting impatient. "Let's turn them on."

Chiori sighed and turned it on. She wanted this over with and honestly, it didn't sound like such a big deal. The other two girls watched their friend jump down the rabbit hole. She started up the phone, letting the logo of it appear and load up the operating system. It gave her the basic loading screen, and she had to call up her phone carrier to transfer the number. They all waited. They waited and watched Chiori be the first to sacrifice herself to the President's evil plot. The setup screen went straight into the Love Alarm app. It came up without even pushing a button. The screen lit up in pale pink with the words _Welcome. _

"The alarm will go off," Chiori read the message on the screen and the girls crowded her to look at the phone, "if someone who loves you comes within a 10M radius of you." The next screen came up which Chiori continued to read, "Sign Up. Will you sync your heart with Love Alarm?" A little heart popped up with a chime.

"Seriously?" Kanae softly grumbled so that only the two girls heard her.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Chiori breathed and tapped the heart.

_Syncing in Progress. _Three lines started to circle around the little heart with a progress bar at the bottom. Chiori rolled her eyes making Lori clear his throat in warning. Once complete, a little chorus sounded and the screen turned blue stating Success! Sync Completed. It took a picture of Chiori with the front-facing camera as her profile picture.

"I can change that picture, right?" Chiori bemoaned and Lori said yes with a little chuckle. She tapped on her face and the heart cleared and the circles around it started to move like a radar. A number appeared at the bottom of the screen that flickered up to the double digits and then back down. After a moment, it settled to zero with a message that Chiori read off, "No one within a 10M radius loves you. Love Alarm."

"That's depressing," Chiori said casually. "They could have worded it better."

"Be thankful," Kanae replied softly and finally tore open her box eager to get this over with, meanwhile Kyoko simply sat back.

"So I'm done, yes? I leave this on, I decide what I want to do if someone makes my alarm go off and I get to keep the phone?" Chiori recited the rules to Lori in which he nodded as he returned to sit in his red chair.

"Alright, am I free to go?" She asked and again Lori nodded. Chiori stood up and looked at Kanae giving her an "_All well" _look and then frowned as she glanced at Kyoko. She looked like she swallowed a bug, or perhaps someone told her that her mom died. Either way, it was not a good look. She bowed down and gave Kyoko an uncharacteristic hug, leaning over her to slip her free arm around her shoulder. This surprised Kyoko so much that it brought her out of her state enough to hear Chiori's thoughtful whisper.

"Don't worry about it. Just silence it and leave it on in the background. You'll never hear it beep and you don't even have to look at it." She pulled away and gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Kyoko gave her the barest of nods back. It was the best she was going to get and left.

Since Kanae and Kyoko were using LME's normal service, they simply had to move their SIM card into the new phone. Kanae took her old phone out and created a backup of it to move into the new one. Kyoko followed suit, making sure that the data, pictures, and contacts were ready for transfer and then turned it off to remove the SIM card.

Finally, when Kanae was ready to set up the phone, Kyoko got the strength to pull it out of the box. She pressed the power button on and her breath hitched as it turned on already afraid of what the app would reveal. As it powered up, Kyoko stopped breathing and it was noticed by her best friend who purposely leaned to her side to be propped up by Kyoko. Kyoko blinked at the sudden contact and looked over at her best friend. Kanae was frowning but then visibly sucked in a breath and blew it out as if instructing Kyoko to do the same.

She did so, though it was shaky. By the time Kyoko's phone asked for the language she wanted it to be set on, Kanae was at the Love Alarm setup. Kyoko watched her tap the heart and the little progress bar sync with Kanae's heart. The same number jumble happened once it was complete and it let her know that no one loved her then. She heard a soft growl from her friend's lips before she hit the home button and made the screen turn dark.

"You're free to go, Kotonami-san," Lori informed her and Kanae shifted in her seat and crossed her arms.

"In a minute," she replied coolly and then sat there waiting, but she did not say why or show any signs of why she didn't leave right away.

Kyoko was thankful though. Having her there next to her gave her the courage to continue setting it up. Though her heart did stop when the pink screen filled her eyes. It was time to press the little heart, and she couldn't do it. Her heart hammered in her chest and pressure started to enclose all around her until she felt a pinch at her right arm bringing her back. She jerked away and Kanae was looking annoyed at her feet. Kyoko saw her hand tuck itself back under her other arm. Kyoko looked at Kanae's face and she saw her grimace and nod.

_Just get it over with. _She was telling her. Honestly, Kanae wanted to reassure her that it probably didn't work. That it was a stupid system that only told someone that they thought they were attractive. It probably only beeps when the user thought someone in a 10-meter radius saw someone they loved in effect making you think that there was someone in love with them. All smoke and mirrors to get lovesick fools into downloading an app for profit. But these were things that she could not say in front of the president, not and still have her career.

Kyoko nodded too quickly and pressed her thumb over the heart. The syncing happened and Kyoko's pale, frightened face appeared on the profile picture a moment later. It was not a flattering picture, but what didn't it matter.

The screen moved on and once again tried to find someone in the area that loved her and failed, letting her know that no one loved her within a 10-meter radius.

"At least this will be the normal screen," she mumbled and quietly turned it off.

"Ah, that's what you may think, but now anyone who has the app that likes you will trigger your Love Alarm," Lori said wistfully and both girls looked up at him with shock.

"Wait, only those that have this app can trigger it?" Kanae asked.

"Yes, of course," Lori answered. "They have to sync with it in order for it to tell their loved one how they feel. Both phones need the app to be on in order to send or receive the alarm. It's an agreement between both parties that have the app that states that they are open and looking for love!"

"Oh, thank you, God!" Kyoko exclaimed and let all of the tension from her body. _Tsuruga-san will never download this. _The heavens were in her favor and she was finally able to breathe again. She knows he would never download this foolish monstrosity of the app. She had to have it to keep her job, but at least now, she can be reassured nothing will ever come of it.

"Oh? Was something bothering you, Mogami-kun," Lori asked cryptically and leaned to the right, resting his chin within his hand for support.

She quickly shook her head. "No sir," she replied as she snapped up from her seat now fully able to function unlike before. "I believe we are free to go, sir?"

Lori smirked, hidden by the curled fingers of his hand and replied, "Yes, you may go."


	3. Evidence

The girls trekked out of the office and once out of sight, Kanae whipped out the phone and immediately tried to delete the app. It wasn't even an option. Even the Close function of the app was greyed out.

"Damn it. I bet he donated money to the developers just so he could torture us," Kanae groaned and looked through the features.

"He said we could silence it. Where is that?"

Kyoko was still dreading the thing but bravely turned it on to see if she could help. Looking at the settings for the program, there was nothing that stated you could turn off the sound.

"Are you serious!?" Kanae exclaimed and started to storm off.

"What?" Kyoko asked confused and quickly followed her best friend.

"He meant silence your phone. You have to silence the whole damn thing to turn off the notifications," Kanae explained, furious with the love monster.

"Well, maybe we can put it on vibrate. Then it won't be so bad," Kyoko offered and did just that.

Kanae thought it over but then shook her head. "I don't have many outfits that would fit a phone this large in my pocket and I don't want to carry it around like a clutch." They reached the elevator and Kanae pushed the down button.

Kyoko didn't think about that either, and she did carry her phone in her purse more than in a pocket. Though honestly, she wasn't too worried about her phone making noise. She was more worried about another person's phone making noise.

_But he won't download the app so it's no big deal. _She reasoned with herself.

As the elevator crept the way down to their floor, Kanae's phone suddenly chimed and she growled in response.

"Who in the hell…" she cursed and looked at her phone. Sure enough, the Love Alarm app came alive.

"Someone in a 10M radius loves you," Kyoko read the message and then looked around. "But no one is here." The elevator dinged and there were three men and a woman inside.

The two looked at each other and frowned.

"There's no way," Kanae whispered to Kyoko as they walked in. They hid in the corner with Kyoko looking frightened and concerned and Kanae looking pissed off at all the people on the elevator.

As the elevator went down, it stopped on the 9th floor and the woman and a single man stepped off. Both of the girls looked at Kanae's phone to see if the heart would go away as the cart moved again, but no.

"So then one of…," Kanae started to snap. She had turned to the two remaining men in the elevator to yell at them, but Kyoko stopped her.

"No, don't. Let's just see what happens," Kyoko reasoned and thankfully Kanae agreed.

The next one was on the 6th floor. The man had stepped very close to the door and quickly stepped out as soon as it opened.

After a moment, the heart dropped.

"What the hell! I don't know him! Who was that?!" Kanae exploded making the remaining man jump. Kyoko quickly apologized to him.

"I don't know, but the 6th floor is music," Kyoko told her. "Did you want to go back…"

"NO!" Kanae snapped and crossed her arms in a rage.

Their floor was next, and they quickly left retreating into the LoveMe locker room. As soon as the door opened, Kanae let it rip.

"What is this thing?!" She started. "How can it trigger the alarm if the person didn't even know I was there? Why is it triggering an alarm from someone I don't even know?! So what? Is this what is going to happen all day, every day? I walk around and suddenly it's just going to chime because some sicko "loves" me?"

Kyoko wasn't sure and didn't know how the app knew she was there before the person did.

"Um, maybe we should go and talk…"

"NO!" Kanae raged. "We are not talking to him. I don't want to see him, especially if he is some idiot that downloads love apps to try and meet strange women he doesn't even know!"

"But um," Kyoko tried to convince her. "How are we going to find out if it was real if we don't talk to him? We need to know if the app really does trigger the person they like without them even knowing that they are there."

Kanae opened her mouth to object and as her eyes crossed over to Kyoko, she couldn't. Kyoko looked worried, scared, and downright terrible.

"Okay fine," Kanae caved. "But if that idiot thinks that he has a snowball's chance in hell with me, he's dead wrong." Kanae jerked the door open and they both left to find the mystery man who had a crush on Kanae.

Once on the 6th floor, Kyoko asked the obvious question, "How are we going to find him?"

To which Kanae replied by simply taking out her phone and turning on the Love Alarm app.

"Follow me," she told her. All Kanae had to do was walk around the building and *chime*.

His name was Hasegawa Isamu. He was a sound technician and he worked with Kanae on a LoveMe job she did a few months ago.

"Um, we really didn't work together exactly," he said nervously. "You were bringing up equipment for HerName. You know the rock band?"

"No," she replied coldly.

He continued, "Well um, you helped bring everything in while I set up the equipment. Then you took care of them while they recorded their album for the whole day. It was…"

"Stupid," Kanae interrupted. "It was stupid and boring and a waste of my time. I didn't want to cater to a damn rock band for the whole day but their normal handler was out sick and someone had to cover. Guess who? Me. Are you trying to tell me that you fell in love with me in one day?" She accused making him blush and shuffle back and forth on his feet.

"Enough said," she spat and then sighed at the crushed look on his face. She took a break and calmed her voice down to let him off easy. "Look, it's nothing personal. Look at the uniform," she gestured to her LoveMe pink overalls. "I don't wear this because I like the color. I don't want anything to do with love so just go find someone else."

Kyoko and Kanae turned to leave, but then Isamu called out to them. "Then why did you download the app?"

Kanae didn't answer or turn around, but Kyoko did. She looked at her friend walking off and felt bad for the guy. She took the few steps towards him and explained, "President Takarada made us download it. It really isn't anything personal, Hasegawa-san. Sorry to bother you." She bowed and then quickly ran to catch up to Kanae.

"This is going to be hell," Kanae said when Kyoko finally caught up to her. "What if I buy a new phone and just have this phone forward all my calls to one that doesn't have this stupid app. Then I can forever silence it and never think about it again."

Kyoko thought that was smart actually and then Kanae continued. "I'd have to keep it charged through and I'd have to pay for my own service."

Okay, that was out for Kyoko then. She couldn't afford that.

"Takarada-san said we can ignore it. We don't have to act on it or anything. Just treat it as if someone emailed you spam that you can ignore and delete," Kyoko suggested and Kanae hummed.

"Yeah, you're right," Kanae agreed, making Kyoko smile. She caught the smile on her timid friend's lips and smiled herself. Kanae knew exactly what she was worried about and honestly wanted to ease some of her woes.

"Hey," she said softly as they reached the elevator. Kyoko looked up at her curiously.

"You shouldn't worry about him. President Takarada is only forcing us to download the app and you know he would never get bullied into doing it."

Kyoko nodded with a little smile on her lips. "Yeah, I convinced myself of that too. He would hate the attention just as much as you do."

"Pfft, I doubt anyone could hate it as much as me," Kanae retorted as the elevator door opened.

"Ah, Kyoko-chan!" Yukihito exclaimed with Ren looking up in surprise beside him.

"NOPE!" Kyoko squeaked and lifted her foot to hightail it out of there, but Kanae was too fast and caught the collar of her overalls and jerked her back. Kyoko almost fell at the strength of it, but Kanae caught her and whispered.

"It would have already dinged if he had it. Stay cool and get in the elevator," she directed and Kyoko chirped in acknowledgment.

"Is everything okay?" Ren asked as he held the door open for them.

"Fine," Kanae replied as they entered the elevator. "Two please." Yukihito pushed the button for the girls. He knew that they were heading to the LoveMe room just by what floor they were getting off on.

"Good morning Kotonami-san," Yukihito greeted them. "You two are rather um, spirited this morning. How are things going?"

"Terrible," Kanae answered and Kyoko jumped.

"No, it's fine. Everything is fine," Kyoko countered as she waved her hands in front of her as an objection to Kanae's words.

"President Takarada decided to play with us today. You know, the issues with being in LoveMe," Kyoko explained hoping to pass it off as nothing but the norm.

Ren snorted. "If he is involved, it can't be anything good."

"Thank you," Kanae agreed.

"What is he having you do?" Yukihito asked and both of the girls stood there quietly while the two men waited.

"Kotonami-san?" the curious manager prodded and she shook her head.

"Nope. I don't care to share." The second floor came up and the door dinged open as Kanae finished, "so you'll have to get it out of her."

"MOKO-SAN!" Kyoko screamed and then looked up at the two men and quickly bowed. "Sorry!" She jumped out of the elevator door just as it was closing, therefore, forcing it to open again. Kyoko was running to the LoveMe room, she really was, yet she jerked to a stop as a large hand grabbed her arm and the momentum of it caused her to fall directly into his arms.

"Mogami-san, what is this about?" Ren asked seriously with great concern.

Before he could blink, Kyoko had freed herself and her face turned as red as a tomato.

"I really don't want to say!"

Now they were really worried. The two men looked at each other and stood their ground.

"Kyoko-chan, if you tell us and if it is as unreasonable as you are making it seem, maybe we can help you get out of it," Yukihito proposed, and he could tell that Kyoko was tempted.

"Really? Um, but you won't research it or anything?" She glanced nervously at Ren and then back at Yukihito and then back at Ren again.

"Well, I guess it depends on what it is, but if it's got you this upset, I'm very inclined to help you out of it," Yukihito stated.

"Um, okay," she said defeated and took out her phone.

"Oh, is that a new phone?" Yukihito admired it to which Kyoko nodded.

"We all got one," she said. "It is required that we use this phone and no alternative."

"Well that's nice, right?" the manager said encouragingly but confused.

Kyoko nodded. "Sure. It's a nice phone, but when I turn it on…." Her voice drifted off and then they waited. She held it out and pushed the power button on to light up the screen. The pale pink screen lit up saying Love Alarm. Then it went blue and the scanner did its thing.

Both the men read the message:

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

"Is this some sort of joke?" Ren stated, confused by the message.

"I wish it was," Kyoko said miserably.

"Wait. This is an app. President Takarada's app? It was called Love Alarm, so is this like a calling system for LoveMe Tasks? Instead of someone writing down a LoveMe task, they will message you on this app. The whole 10-meter thing is just notifying the closest LoveMe member to the task. Right? No one loves you must mean that there are no tasks to do in the area, right?"

"Wow," Kyoko said looking up at Yukihito with eyes wide and shiny with unshed tears. "I really, really, wish that was true!"

"It's not?" Yukihito asked, and she quickly shook her head.

"So then what is it?" He asked.

Instead of verbally answering them, she took her phone back and tapped it a few times. She gave the phone to Yukihito and waited. They looked at the About section of the app, and read the function on the app themselves.

Yukihito laughed. "Seriously? This is real?"

Kyoko nodded and took back her phone.

"How would that even work?" Yukihito asked, and Kyoko looked up at him with great concern. He looked genuinely curious about it. "The LoveMe girls have this app, and it's supposed to alarm when someone who loves them gets close to them?"

Ren saw the worried look on Kyoko's face and sighed.

_If that's true, then it doesn't work. _

"I wouldn't worry so much about it, Mogami-san," Ren told her making her look up at him. "This must be some sort of silly game Takarada-san is playing on you three. He probably has something in the building that triggers the alarm when you get close to it to help you three get used to the idea of being loved."

Kyoko frowned and then shook her head. "It triggered for Kotonami-san already, and we talked to him to see if it was real. He said he really did like her," she told them and again both men looked at each other confused.

Ren was still skeptical. "What did he say?" Kyoko relayed the story, from the moment that Kanae's phone alarmed to the moment they saw each other at the elevator door.

Yukihito shook his head and mumbled, "He must be part of the setup. Maybe he has a buzzer or device on him that would make the app alarm when they get near it."

Ren sighed and shook his head, "That's going too far even for him." He then took out his phone.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kyoko bellowed and grab the arm that was holding his phone in effect pulling it down from his view.

"I was going to look it up," he replied. "If this is his invention, then it won't be available to the public, and he really is toying with you."

"Oh," Kyoko said but didn't let go of his arm. She licked her lips and asked, "so you are just looking?"

Ren watched her carefully and nodded. "I'm just going to look it up," he said softly, slowly as if any sudden move was going to make her explode.

"Um, okay," she said and reluctantly let go. He raised his phone back up as he watched her, truly concerned about her all the while she was gnawing on her lower lip.

However, the moment his screen left her field of vision, she grabbed his arm again. He frowned down at her, not angry but seriously worried.

"You should sit down," she offered and looked around trying to find somewhere to sit. "There," she said as she pointed to a bench not too far away. She dragged him over with unknown strength and he was pushed onto the bench with her hovering over his phone.

"You could have just asked to see the results," he mumbled to her, and she blushed delicately making his heart flutter.

"Sorry, it's just…" she whispered and he shook his head.

"I'm sure it's nothing." He tried to comfort her and then proceeded to search Love Alarm.

It was not nothing. This was definitely something. Kyoko groaned.

All three of them sat and watched commercials and news reports about it, and there were thousands of stories talking about how people met their loved ones using the app in Korea.

"So then it's real," Yukihito stated and Ren looked over to Kyoko who was looking pale.

"What does he want you to do with it?" Ren asked gently.

"Nothing," she told him and looked up at him with watery eyes. "He just wants us to have it on."

Ren took a breath and let it out through his nose loudly. "Mogami-san, I know that this seems unorthodox, but you know what he is like. He only wants to help you."

Kyoko shook her head and looked down in her lap. "How does this help?"

"The whole point of the app is to show you if someone is in love with you, right?" Kyoko nodded and he continued, "Then that's all there is to it. Takarada-san doesn't want you to do anything about it, but for you to acknowledge that there are people out there that love you. And this definitely forces you to see it. Maybe this is his way of getting you used to the idea of being loved."

Kyoko sighed but didn't say anything. She didn't want to tell him her real reason why she was so worried about the app. If she told him that she was more worried about ringing another's phone, it would only prompt more questions.

Even though she didn't say anything, it looked as if her spirits were lifting. He moved to get up and she timidly touched his arm.

"Um," she started bashfully without looking at him and then stopped. Ren watched her, waiting for whatever she wanted to say. She was looking down but not really looking at anything, merely lost in her own thoughts and all he could think was how beautiful she was.

Her gold eyes sparkling from unshed tears, her cheeks flushed pink and those lips, red and swollen from her nibbling them from anxiety, he wanted so badly to kiss her. Her fingers were lightly pinching the tiniest piece of his jacket. That little touch kept him there, and his heart was thundering in his chest because of it. This touch, silly as it may be, felt like the most intimate gesture to him.

"Thank you," she mumbled and blushed even darker. His hands clenched into fists as he looked at her, always and forever fighting himself.

"I didn't do anything," he told her with a little smile.

She gave him a little shrug and graced him with such a honey cutey look. "I don't know, but I feel better now after talking to you," she said innocently making him groan and hang his head.

"Something wrong? Kyoko asked with genuine concern.

Ren laughed and then smiled at her. "No, everything is fine. I was thinking that I'm probably going to be late after all this."

Kyoko burst out of the seat suddenly in a panic and looked around manically. "Oh My God! YASHIRO-SAN! Tsuruga-san is going to be late!"

The man in question had stepped away when Ren started talking to her, allowing them some alone time. He had walked down the hall and was on his phone. The moment Kyoko screamed out his name, he jumped out of his skin and twisted towards them.

"What? What's wrong?" He rushed over to them.

"Why are you here letting him prattle on about stupid things." Kyoko gestured to her phone. "Tsuruga-san should have never left the elevator. You need to get going!"

"Ah, Kyoko-chan, we have time. We'll just skip bre…" Yukihito hesitated as Ren stood up behind her with shook his head over and over again.

"Skip break," Yukihito covered and smiled at the young girl. "We'll make up the time by skipping our break and no one will mind, but yes. You are right, we should go."

Kyoko eyed him suspiciously and turned to Ren who smiled sweetly but looking guilty which only making her huff cutely.

"I'll see you later, Mogami-san," Ren said and unconsciously lifted his hand and stroked her hair.

"Ah, okay. Bye," Kyoko mumbled shyly.

The moment Ren and Yukihito were safely inside the elevator, Ren could feel his manager's giddiness bubbling within. He could feel it ready to burst at the seams until finally, Ren couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm not downloading it," Ren told him.

Yukihito smiled and faked ignorance, "Hmm? I didn't say anything."

Ren sighed and twisted his neck to pop it.

"But aren't you a little bit curious?" Yukihito asked and Ren groaned. Thankfully, the elevator door dinged and it opened allowing him to escape. His manager quickly caught up as they headed to the garage.

"You have to admit, this is like a gift!" Yukihito whispered to him excitedly. "All you have to do is download it and see…"

"No," he growled. "Yashiro-san, would you think about it for more than a second about what would happen if I downloaded that app on my phone?"

He cringed. "Yeah, okay. It would probably break it. But just imagine…"

Again, Ren interrupted. "No. I'm not going to imagine anything. All I need is for her phone to beep and then she'd start avoiding me like the plague."

Yukihito snorted. "She wouldn't do that." Ren shot him a look that said it all.

"Okay, look at it this way. You are helping her accept the idea that someone loves her. Exactly like you said the president is doing. All you have to do is meet her in very public places and trigger the alarm. You don't even have to speak to her."

Ren laughed. "To make her think that random men are in love with her?"

"It would be you," Yukihito told him as they reached his car. "How can you be jealous of yourself?"

Yukihito entered his car and Ren rolled his eyes. _Because it's sometimes true. _He thought as he got into the car. _Kuon took her first kiss. Cain was the first person she slept with. Shit. Ren is only a mentor or a coworker, not even a friend._

Yukihito saw a dark cloud fill up the back seat as he pulled out of the garage and didn't want to bring it up again.


	4. Chime

The day passed without an incident and while Kyoko was still aware of it on the next day, by the third day she had gotten used to the pink screen every time she turned on her phone. Her thumb pressed the home button faster than it could tell her that no one loved her.

Beyond that, the phone was great! It was much better than her old one. She downloaded a scheduling app and several emoji packs. She was eager to try them but Kanae threatened her with bodily harm.

It was now Thursday night, and Kyoko was heading down to Yappa Kimagure Rock. She happily went inside TBM studios and straight to the production room to see what the plan for today's guests was. She was early as usual, but they normally had all the information ready on the whiteboard ahead of time.

Tonight, the guest star was a female actress, Fumino Chiyo. She was promoting her latest film about being a pianist torn between doing what she loved verses doing what her family wants. They were going to do the standard interview questions and then she is going to play a song on the piano featured in the film.

It seemed like it was going to be an easy day for Bo.

As she was reading over the board, her phone chimed and she blinked.

Kyoko looked down at her bag and stared at it.

That wasn't a notification beep or a low battery warning.

_That was…_"An alarm," she whispered the last two words out loud and shook her head. _No, that's wrong. I misheard it. _ She shook her head as she reached into her bag for her phone. _There is no way. It's a simple notification for a voice mail or email. Never mind that it doesn't normally sound like that. Never mind that it sounded like all those other people's phones, all those "alarms". It's not mine! _

She turned it on and the screen started to tremble.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

Voices filtered into the room and the Ishibashi Brothers came into the room laughing and smiling as usual. Kyoko quickly hid her phone, nervous and confused and bowed down in greeting.

"Good evening!" She shouted a little louder than normal.

"Hey! Kyoko-chan. How are you doing tonight?" Shinichi exclaimed as he entered the room and nudged Hikaru slightly.

"Hi Kyoko-chan," Hikaru greeted and Yuusei smiled and waved.

"Um, It's uh…" Kyoko struggled as her hand shook behind her. "GOOD!" she yelled and then laughed nervously.

"I need to get dressed," she declared and then ran towards them, through them and out the door.

"Um, okay. Was she acting weirder than usual?" Shinichi asked.

"She's not weird," Hikaru defended her. "She's excited about something or nervous. Maybe she is a fan of the guest. Who is it?"

Kyoko was freaking out as she ran through the hallway to the little dressing room that held Bo's costume. Her phone was held tight in her hand and the world blurred until she arrived. She was panting, both because of the run and because of what happened.

_What did happen? Why did it ring? Did it error? Does it do that when it hasn't triggered in a while? Like for encouragement or something?_

The screen already turned off by the time she arrived at the dressing room, but she was scared of turning it back on again.

However, she had to know.

She pushed the power button on to light up the screen and blew out air in relief.

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

Kyoko laughed hysterically. "Good. That's good. It was nothing. Just my stupid brain or some sort of dumb glitch. She sunk to the ground and took some long deep calming breaths. As her heart started to calm down, she moved to put her phone away when again it alarmed.

*Chime*

Kyoko froze and tapped her screen alive.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

"Kyoko-chan?" Someone called out to her but her brain was buzzing too loudly for her to recognize who it was. But it was too late and he entered the room.

"Is everything okay? The guys were wondering," Hikaru froze as she looked up at him with her phone in hand and the Love Alarm app active.

He blushed. "Ah, um. I never thought you'd actually have that."

"Aaa.." Kyoko croaked, unable to formulate a single word.

"Look, I wasn't expecting anything. I downloaded it as a joke, and I never, ever, thought that you would have it. That you would find out this way," Hikaru explained but Kyoko was stunned, looking at him as if he told her he was from Krypton.

"I'll um," Hikaru took a step back, suddenly sad and terribly uncomfortable. "I'll just go." He took another step, nodded and turned around to leave.

"Hi…," Kyoko choked. "Hikaru-san!" He stopped but didn't completely turn around.

"I didn't know," she said, and he smiled a sad little smile.

"I figured," he said and took out his phone. He tapped a few things and dropped his arm once done. Kyoko looked down at her phone and saw that the heart went away and the message went into its default. He turned it off.

"I don't want things to get weird or anything. After a year of asking you out, I knew we would be nothing more than friends," he continued.

"A year?" she gasped making him chuckle.

"Geez, I need to be more direct," he mumbled to himself, but loud enough for her to hear. He took a deep breath and let it out. He laughed and shook his head.

"Actually, I'm sort of happy you know now. It's always been a question of whether or not you were politely rejecting me or if you were always truly too busy to go with us."

"Hikaru-san, I…" She started but he shook his head. He held up his phone and wiggled it.

"You didn't ring my phone," he told her and then added, "So I know my answer." He turned to leave and did so quicker than last time. By the time Kyoko got up, he was halfway down the hallway.

"Hikaru-san, wait." She called out to him making him stop. Kyoko ran up to him and bowed down.

"Please, um. Could I talk to you for a minute at least?" she pleaded and he nodded. She guided him back into her dressing room and prompted him to sit down with her.

"Um, I don't know where to start since we don't have a lot of time before the show starts, but I can't leave it like this. Look," Kyoko said desperately. "I won't make anyone's phone alarm. I think love is," she hesitated and then threw her hands up in the air. "Love is a guaranteed path straight to hell."

Hikaru blinked and then blinked again and then the corner of his mouth twitched and then he laughed.

"What?"

She smiled relieved. "I do. That's why I'm in LoveMe. That's why I really don't want you to be offended or hurt that I didn't say yes. I want you to believe me when I say that I never knew you were asking me out. I never knew you liked me as more than a coworker. I never…"

"Yeah okay!" Hikaru held up his hands motioning for her to stop. "I get it. I get it."

Silence filled the room and things started to get uncomfortable again.

"Hikaru-san, there is a reason why. Over a year ago…." Kyoko started but he jerked up from his seat.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me. Besides you are right, we don't have a lot of time, so I'll let you get dress okay. I'm good," he told her and smiled gently at her. "Truly, we are good."

This time when he walked out, Kyoko let him, but she wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do.

Kyoko happily put on the chicken suit. She was thankful to put it on and hide in it and while she charmed the crowd and entertained the guest, her eyes always wondered over to Hikaru who was putting on the same bright smile and joyful laugh. Was it really okay? After so long, after all his attempts, was it really okay that she didn't ring his alarm? That she didn't even know he was trying.

As the show continued, the thoughts about it churned in her head-turning sour and ugly. By the time the show was over, Kyoko was in tears. She struggled to keep it together as they ended the show. The moment they left, running off the stage, she didn't stop. Her clunky feet ran straight to her dressing room that is until a voice called out to her.

"Hey, Bo!"

Kyoko stopped horrified. She looked towards the source of the voice and shook her head.

_No, not now. This is horrible timing. _

Ren walked up to her with a friendly smile and again she shook her head and motioned for him to stop.

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now. It's not a good time," she told him in her deepest sounding voice and then started to leave, but of course, she was never able to escape him, not as Kyoko and definitely not as Kyoko in a chicken suit.

"Are you alright? Did you get fired again?" He asked, and she wanted to laugh but looked up at him and saw the genuine concern on his face.

"No, I didn't get fired. It's…," she hesitated and struggled to explain. "I need to get undressed and catch someone before they leave. I need to explain myself. I don't think he understands. I need him to understand why."

Silence.

Rather than wait for Ren to say something, Kyoko bowed and apologized, "I'm sorry. I need to go."

She took two steps before she was forced to stop again because he called out to her.

"Kyoko," he said unsure.

Kyoko, not Bo.

_Damn it. _She cursed. She wasn't being careful, she was too distraught to concentrate on how she spoke to him and he found out. Now was definitely not the time.

"I need to go," she told him again and this time she didn't stop.

The door closed behind her and she whipped off the head so she could breathe. Her lungs burned as she gulped in air trying to get a full clear breath. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to talk to Hikaru but now her mind was plagued with thoughts of Ren. Did he really connect the dots just now? If he did, was he going to stop speaking to her because she knew his secrets? Because she knew he was in love with Morizumi?

Lost in the chaos of her mind, she screamed when there was a knock at the door holding her up. And then it opened suddenly knocking into her costume and she dropped the head to keep it closed.

"What part of dressing room do you not understand?!" she yelled out as she slammed it shut.

"So, it is you," Ren said quietly but clearly through the door.

Kyoko closed her eyes as she started to panic.

"Yeah, I started recently," she lied, "I'm sort of embarrassed about it actually, so I never told you about it."

"Is that really true?" he asked sounding almost hopeful.

So she kept it up, "Yeah, of course. I was shocked to see you there and completely forgot that I was in costume. I'm super embarrassed."

_So please go away. Please!_

"Oh, hi, um…."

Kyoko's eyes widened as she heard a second voice through her door. She looked up to the ceiling and asked why the gods were trying to kill her.

"Tsuruga-san, why are you here?" Hikaru asked and Kyoko pressed her ear against the door to listen.

"I came to pick up Mogami-san," he told him without a moment's hesitation making Kyoko groan silently.

"Oh, well then I guess I don't have to ask, but um please excuse me…."

Silence and then there was a light tap on the door.

"Kyoko-chan," Hikaru's voice came through the door loud and clear making her back up and listen.

"I was going to invite you to dinner with us, but it looks like your ride is here. I wanted to let you know that you are always welcome to come with us. You did a great job today, and I'm happy that you have continued to work with us for so long. So, I'll see you next time, as usual, right?"

"YES!" She shouted and took a breath to calm her voice down. "Thank you, I'll definitely come next time. Okay?"

"Alright, sounds good," he replied back and then she heard him speak again. "Have a good evening, Tsuruga-san."

"Good evening to you, Ishibashi-san, and good work on the show."

"Ah thanks," he replied and then there was nothing.

And she was determined to do nothing too. The impending doom behind the door was too scary to investigate. Was he gone? Did he leave with Hikaru?

_No, no. There is no way I'm getting off this easy. Maybe I can sleep here for the night._

"Mogami-san, are you done changing?" Ren called out casually and Kyoko could hear the gentlemanly smile on his face.

"No," she bemoaned and wanted to dunk down into the chicken suit allowing it to fully claim her as one of its own.

"We need to talk, Mogami-san," he said carefully.

"Oh, but um, I need to shower and everything, so it may take a while, so if you are busy…"

"Nope. I'm done for the day. By all means, take your time. I'll wait," he told her and Kyoko dropped her head in defeat.

She opened her door still dressed in the Bo costume minus the head. "Please come in."

Ren peeked in and then frowned and then sighed. "Seriously, Mogami-san, I can wait. Get dressed properly and then we will talk."

She shook her head. "I'm dressed." She took a step back and unhooked the suit from inside. The fluffy portion of it fell to her feet without the straps to hold it up and she was able to step out of it. Kyoko was wearing yellow and black bicycle shorts that clung to her skin and a matching tank top with white sneakers.

"There is no shower. I actually don't like to go out after the show, because all I want to do is get clean after being in the suit," she explained as she picked it up and set it up to air out.

Ren stepped into the small dressing room and leaned against the door after closing it. He can tell by looking at her that she was hot. Sweat made her hair cling to her face. There were beads of sweat on her skin and even the work out clothes showed signs of it as it soaked it up and darkened the yellow and black colors of her shirt.

It was sexy as hell. She turned to him and sat down on a small stool in front of a small fan. She reached out to turn it on and suddenly the room smelled like her turning something on inside of him.

"Are you angry at me?" she asked worried and it made him focus.

_Am I angry at her? _He had to think about it. He had to force the fog in his brain to clear and look at her and remember what it was that he wanted to say.

"Yes," he finally answered and Kyoko's breath hitched to which he added softly, "and no."

He looked down and asked again, "It was always you?"

Since Hikaru spilled the beans and because she didn't want to lie to Ren's face, she told him the truth, "Since day 1 of the show."

He nodded accepting the answer. "Was he the one you wanted to talk to?"

This was not one of the questions Kyoko was expecting so it took her a moment to understand. When it finally did, she answered, "Yes, but it seems that he's okay with everything, for which I am so very thankful for."

Ren looked at her and saw a soft smile grace her lips. Without thinking, he asked, "What happened?"

Again, Kyoko blinked. _Why is he deflecting? Why isn't he asking me about being Bo all this time? He said he was angry. Wasn't it about Bo? Why does he care about Hikaru?_

"Um," Kyoko hesitated. "I'm afraid that's personal, something between Hikaru and me."

Suddenly, her grudge demons all sprouted out at the same time and Kyoko looked up to see the Demon Lord glaring at her.

"So, Bo gets to know some of the most personal information about myself. Things, that for some insane reason I was trusting him with. I trusted a person who was purposefully deceiving me for some unknown reason. And now, it's Personal?"

He didn't have to move. He didn't have to step towards her and intimidate her with his size and height. The Demon Lord did it just fine at the door and Kyoko fell to her knees and kissed the floor in an apology.

"Hikaru-san ran my love alarm, and I never knew that he liked me in that way, and I didn't want him to think that I was rejecting him because I didn't like him, but it was because I didn't know that he liked me, so I told him that I hated love, and that's why I was in LoveMe, and I wanted to explain why I hated love, but then he said he didn't want to know, but I thought about how I would feel if that happened to me, and I wanted to tell him about why I hated love but then you came and he came and I'm Soooorrrry!"

Again silence. She had spilled everything on the floor like word vomit and she stayed there with her forehead on the ground waiting for the storm to pass. So worried with everything, she didn't feel it simmer down until Ren touched the back of her hair lightly.

She timidly sat up and he nodded slightly. He was crouching down to touch her and he stayed that way but didn't say anything.

"Um," she started and then hesitated. Did she bring up Bo? Kyoko didn't really know the reason why he was there to begin with. He didn't know she was Bo, so he lied about coming to pick her up. Maybe he wanted to talk to Bo.

Kyoko deflated a bit. _Now that he knows I'm Bo, he's never going to talk to me like that again. _She could feel the pressure in her chest start to rise to her eyes. The swell of emotion that threatened to make her cry but she took a deep breath to squash it. _No, no crying. You knew this was going to happen one day, Kyoko, so suck it up and at least make sure he's willing to talk to you as yourself._

"I'm sorry," she told him and he looked at her. Apparently, he went off into his own mind as she did hers.

"It was never my intent to deceive you. When we first met as Bo, you hated Kyoko. You hated me," Kyoko corrected and then shrugged as he frowned.

"You called out to me asking for help. You, the great Tsuruga Ren, needed help. I had never seen you so troubled, it was like I saw something I shouldn't have seen. We got to talking and well… you know. It was the first time you were kind to me."

Ren sighed as he stood up. It made her stop talking and she watched him from her seated position on the floor and then he held out his hand to her. She looked at it and then back at him questioning.

"Please stand up. If we are going to talk, I rather we sit down comfortably in a chair rather than on the floor," he told her. She blushed slightly but happily took his hand. His warm fingers wrapped around hers as he helped her up, even though it wasn't needed. But he didn't let go, instead, he guided her back to the stool with the fan pointed to it and then dropped her hand once she sat. She rubbed her fingers together wishing to keep the feeling of his touch.

She watched him grab another stool and place it a respectable distance in front of her. The stool was too small for him and he looked uncomfortable on it, but he crossed his arms and looked at her determined to get his answers.

"What else do you remember from our conversations?"

Now Kyoko began to fidget. "Ah, um. Not much. You got fired a lot when you first started. Like a lot. I think you were counting into the double digits, when…"

"What else?" he warned and she snapped her lips shut.

"Umm…" she struggled. "That um…" she couldn't look at him. "You've never been in love before," she muttered but the room was quiet enough for him to hear.

Kyoko saw him move and she leaned back instinctively. He didn't get up from his stool but raised his right hand to cover the frown on his face as if he was thinking.

"Elaborate," he ordered and she squirmed.

"Um, just that. You struggled with Katsuki because you never experienced love before. That was so hard for me to help you with, and really that's what I wanted to do. Then you told me about the…" Kyoko stopped.

"About?" he prompted and she looked down sadly.

"When I was trying to help, you mentioned a girl that you might like. Well, um something must have happened with her because Katsuki was made after that and it all came together!" She focused on the positive and not on the knife twisting pain in her chest at the thought of Morizumi.

Again, silence filled the room, but she honestly didn't know what to say. Did he want her to say more? What more was there to say? He told her that he had a crush on a girl. Something was holding him back. That was his business, not hers, and honestly, she was disgustingly thankful for whatever that was.

Kyoko looked away and sneered at herself. _Yes, because of that, he is sitting here with you instead of being happy with her. Even if she is a murderous bitch, he is here with you instead of being with the one he loves. Aren't you so very pleased with yourself? _

"That's it? That's all you got from our conversations?" He asked sounding unconvinced or confused.

Kyoko turned back to him baffled as well and thought it over again. "Yes. Those were the only times we ever talked and that's all I can think of that you would be angry about."

Ren sighed and he pushed himself back and out of his seat and started to pace. "Everything. What else do you remember? Even the stupid stuff. What do you remember?" He pressed.

"Eh, um," Kyoko struggled. "You didn't know a slang word, Yashiro-san breaks a phone like every other day…"

"No, I don't care about the first conversation," he said and walked up to her. Now he got into her personal space and placed a hand on the little table that held her fan so he could lean down towards her. "What do you remember from the conversations about my trouble with Katsuki?"

Kyoko blushed at the closeness of him. The fan hit his face making the strands of his hair blow to the left and his scent wafted from him and straight into her nose. She took a deep breath and almost fainted. Instead, she looked down and away from him and recalled what she knew.

"You've been in relationships in the past, but someone told you that it wasn't about love. You admitted that it was true, then asked me what love was about. To help you, I," she licked her lips and sighed. "I used the feelings I used to have for Sho to see if maybe you had felt them too."

She stopped because she didn't want to remind him of the girl, but she already knew he was thinking of her. Kyoko closed her eyes, because she didn't want to see him, didn't want to see the look on his face as he thought about her. It would be too painful, too heartbreaking and it would shatter all her hard work to keep herself in check in front of him.

"You said she was 16. Too young for you to be in love with, but it fit Katsuki so much that I quickly tried to get you to focus on that. The next time I saw you after we had dinner and saw the show, I had to find out if you were okay. I thought everything was perfect for you to create Katsuki which you did."

"I did," he whispered softly making her finally look at him. He looked sad, painfully sad exactly as he did the day she spoke to him as Bo.

"I was able to gather my feelings and thoughts and portray Katsuki to everyone's satisfaction. Why do you think that is?"

Kyoko took a breath and let it out in a huff. "Because your situation fits with Katsuki's?" she stated the obvious making him smile.

"Yes, and who do you think helped me with that?"

"Oh," Kyoko mumbled and looked away. "I merely helped you find the person that could trigger your feelings. If it wasn't for her, my advice would have meant nothing."

"Who do you think that is?"

Stunning her with his question, she looked at him and he was staring at her as if hoping she would say it. Kyoko pressed her lips together and wanted to slap him, kick him, hurt him the way he was hurting her.

"How am I supposed to know? You never said her name," she said reasonably.

"Seriously?" he asked and she had to get away. Kyoko slipped out of her stool and put some distance between them. She crossed her arms over her chest to keep it from hurting, to hold her breaking heart inside and keep it from spilling out of her mouth as she spoke. She was angry and hurt and was shaking from the emotions trying to escape from within.

"Did Yashiro-san tell you? Is this where all this is coming from? He told you that I met Morizumi-san in my audition as Momiji and so now that you know I'm Bo, and I know about your feelings, you saw a chance to ask about her?"

Ren stood up, completely confused and well just plain confused.

"What? Morizumi Kimiko?"

"Yes," Kyoko exclaimed and started to pace in her tiny space. "I met her there. She was auditioning for Momiji. You came up as a topic of conversation and she showed me…" she struggled and lifted her hand up. "She showed me the promise ring on her pinkie. The White Day gift you gave her when you worked with her. It was designer, something unique, something expensive. No man buys something like a promise ring for just anyone. And she said…"

"She lied," Ren interrupted making Kyoko stop and look up at him.

"I never bought her a ring," he told her and she frowned biting her lip.

"I do give people White Day gifts when I can. Especially to those who I am currently working with to keep up good relations, but they are generally a batch buy. I find something pretty that I can get a lot of and send it to them."

"Like the heart keychain Momose got?" Kyoko asked softly and Ren smiled and nodded.

"Just like that," he confirmed.

"Did you send everyone to Dayjowey Land, too?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No. That was only for you," he told her making her blush.

"The ring could have been a batch buy," she told him and he nodded.

"That's true," he acknowledged, "but giving jewelry to women is a dangerous game. I give the wrong woman the wrong piece of jewelry and poof." His fingers popped open mimicking an explosion and he smiled.

"Misunderstandings happen. I find it safer to send trinkets or stuffed animals to them instead. It's cheaper too," he reasoned making her laugh. As soon as she noticed herself laughing, she coughed to make it stop.

_Damn it. Why am I so happy suddenly? Calm down, Kyoko. _

When she finally controlled herself, she asked, "Are you still angry at me? For hiding away in a chicken costume?"

He snorted and shook his head. "No, and I'm thankful that it was you in the costume anyway."

Kyoko blushed. "Really?"

"Really," he reassured and then pulled out his phone to look at the time. "It's late. Will you keep me honest and let me drive you home?"

She nodded.

They gathered her things and it was indeed late enough for it to be dark on this summer evening. The atmosphere around them had lightened up dramatically, so their minds had changed to other things.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her as he drove.

"I usually eat at home," she answered.

He smiled as she missed his intent. "Do you still prefer to do that?" He asked again and gestured to the surrounding area.

She looked at him and then around and then it clicked, "Oh! OH! No." She answered and then ran her hand over her clothes.

"I'm not dressed to eat out, and I probably smell bad from work. No. I just want to go home, but thank you. Really, I'm good," she said.

"Okay. You know I'm not hungry, and I was willing to eat with you if you wanted, but I understand the desire to get clean after a workout."

Kyoko glared at him. "Did you eat anything today?"

"Yes, I ate something sometime between this morning and now," he joked causing her to groan.

"How do you survive!" she said rhetorically and he laughed.

"Off my good looks," he teased and she snorted.

"Are you calling yourself a yummy treat?"

He smirked at her. "Would you like a taste?"

Kyoko sucked in air and audibly let it out, "Yeah, no," she told him and he risked a glance at her. She was blushing bright red and was looking at her lap but smiling humorously.

"Besides I hear carnivorous meat is not tasty," she added and he laughed.

"While I do like the occasional steak, I don't think I eat enough meat to be considered a pure carnivore."

"Ah but with the way you sometimes look at people, you are definitely a carnivore," she clarified sounding casual.

Confused he asked, "What do you mean?"

She looked at him as he conveniently stopped at a red light, so he looked at her as she answered, "Sometimes you have this look like you want to eat them or something. As if they are something small and cute and tasty to eat."

Ren blushed and looked away.

"I do not," he mumbled, and she hummed in reply. _That's how she thinks I look at her? _He glanced at her before the light turned green and pressed his lips together. _Damn it, but what she said is true. She's small and cute and what I wouldn't give to taste her. _

Ren pulled up to the restaurant and parked, but did not turn off the car.

"Thank you for the ride home and um," Kyoko hesitated and continued in a soft bashful voice, "Again, I'm sorry for keeping Bo from you."

He smiled softly at her, "I have no reason to stay angry at you, Mogami-san."

She pouted, "People don't need a logical reason to be angry."

He snorted. "If I was angry at you, I wouldn't have offered you a ride home. All is forgiven, Mogami-san."

Kyoko flushed and gave him the sweetest smile. "Okay, thank you," she beamed. "I'll see you later, yes?"

"Yes," he promised. She left his car and with the sound of his door closing, he pulled out his phone. Ren sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

He peered up at her walking towards the door and pushed the little pink button, but the time the app booted up and the little radar sought out a signal, Kyoko was out of range. That or it alarmed her phone but not his. He frowned at the thought.

"I'm an idiot," he groaned and then shifted gears to drive off.


	5. Report Out

It was the one-week anniversary of the LoveMe girls getting their apps and Lori called them in for an update.

"Well, tell me the news! How many times did your alarms go off? Did you approach any of them? Did your hearts sing for anyone else?" He exulted, using his whole body to emphasize his words.

The three girls stared at him impassively, which was the only safe expression to this nightmare.

"I didn't know we had to keep count," Kanae told him in all seriousness.

"I only had 3, so it's easy to report," Chiori stated. "I did nothing about it and if I rang someone's alarm, no one told me that I did."

Lori sighed disappointedly. "Weren't you even a little bit curious who ran your alarm?"

Chiori shook her head and saw the heartbroken look on Lori's face and quickly backtracked, "It's not that I didn't want to, it's that there were too many people around."

"Hmm, Kotonami-Kun? Mogami-Kun?" He prompted.

Kanae answered first, "It rang several times. I really couldn't tell you how often. I'll admit that I had the sound off while on set. There was only one time that I pursued the person who rang my alarm, and as Amamiya-san said, if I rang someone's alarm, they didn't come up to me."

"Why out of the several times that it rang, did you investigate only one?"

Kanae didn't want to answer, but honestly, she couldn't think of a good lie. "I was curious if the app actually worked."

Lori smiled and urged her to continued.

"According to him, yes," Kanae confirmed. "But it seemed like a superficial love."

"Why do you say that?"

Kanae shrugged. "He only knew me for one day, and then months later, he was still "in love with me". How can anyone claim to be in love with someone they don't know?"

Again Lori sighed, "Girls, you are missing the point. It's to let you know that someone is romantically interested in you. More than lust, more than casual flirtation. You stir their hearts and their minds to want to pursue more!"

Again, he looked at them hoping to see the seed of interest and an inkling of hope that they too could find love, but the three simply sat there looking impatient or bored.

"Mogami-kun, anything?"

Kyoko squirmed in her seat and hesitantly answered, "Um, It rang once."

"Yes?" Lori encouraged.

"It was rather obvious who it was as we were alone together when it happened," she informed him. Lori was at the edge of his seat. Did that boy actually download the app? It couldn't be. Considering how calm she was, nervous yes, but she was not nervous enough for it to be Ren. _So if it wasn't Ren…._

"Oh? Who was it?" Lori asked and Kyoko found that everyone was aptly looking at her with interest. She blushed and cowered in her seat at the attention.

"I probably shouldn't say," she mumbled and Lori wanted to scream. _Maybe it was Ren?_

"Very well, Mogami-kun. You don't have to reveal who it was, but what happened when you both found out?"

"Ah, um. He confessed to me, but I didn't ring his alarm so he considered it a rejection," she told them sadly.

"Was it?" Lori asked confusing Kyoko.

"Was it what?"

"Did you reject the boy? Just because you did not ring his alarm, doesn't mean you can't pursue a relationship and see if one day you do."

Kyoko sat there baffled. "Um, no, er yes. We, um, didn't really say anything regarding it. When he confessed, he had already determined that I didn't feel the same way since it had been so long. I apologized, but I didn't agree or disagree with what he said."

"So then there is a chance?" Lori asked hopefully.

"Um," Kyoko struggled. Hikaru was nice, but she didn't really seem him in that way. And then there was her other problem of Tsuruga-san being the one who has taken over her heart. How could she in good conscience pursue something with one man and be in love with another? But then, did she even properly tell Hikaru no?

The conflicted look on Kyoko's face spoke volumes in Lori's mind. He decided to let her off since at least one of the LoveMe girls was experiencing some result from the app.

"I'm not asking you to do anything about it, Mogami-kun. I'm merely thankful that you thought about it. Please do not lose sleep over it," Lori said which only made Kyoko fluster red, either out of embarrassment or anger. He wasn't sure, nor did he really care.

"Ladies, it doesn't matter if it only rings once or a dozen times. Please keep your mind open to the possibilities. I do understand your lack of initiative when it comes to an alarm in a crowd, but please, if an opportunity such as Mogami-kun's arises, do not immediately dismiss it. Investigate, even if it is for purely scientific reasons. Deal?"

"Yes, President Takarada," they all said in unison.

"You're dismissed," he stated and the three left, however, instead of splitting off, they all clung to Kyoko's side. In fact, they steered her to the LoveMe room like sheepdogs with a stray lamb. As soon as the door closed, the two girls rounded her in an intimidating pink cloud forcing her to sit on the nearest bench.

"Who was it? Spill!" Kanae demanded.

"But," Kyoko started and both girls crossed their arms over their chest in a domineering pose.

"It isn't my place to say," Kyoko stood firm.

Both girls looked at each other and started to whisper to each other. They purposely spoke loud enough for Kyoko to hear, but they excluded her from the conversation.

"It's him, isn't it?" Chiori asked Kanae to which Kanae nodded.

"Yes, I believe so. I don't think she would protect anyone else this strongly if it wasn't him," Kanae agreed.

"So then if he triggered her alarm, but she didn't then we are good, right?" Chiori said.

"I guess," Kanae said glaring at Kyoko who was timidly listening and watching her two supposedly best friends.

"But I think it would be best to get them alone together to see what happens," she added.

Kyoko perked up at this. "Hey! Wait a minute."

"Shh, we aren't talking to you," Kanae told her and turned to Chiori.

"How are we going to get him to meet her?" Chiori asked as they formulated a plan.

"We can get his manager to set it up," Kanae offered, causing to Kyoko jump up between the two of them.

"IT WAS NOT TSURUGA-SAN!" Kyoko screamed forcing them a step back.

"Oh?" Kanae asked with a little smirk. "I never said it was."

"Did you want it to be him?" Chiori asked.

"No! But I thought…" Kyoko stammered and then kept quiet.

"Why would we come to that conclusion, hmm?" Kanae bated making Kyoko blush and shy away.

"Maybe it's the lead in her new show, Hiromune Koga, right?" Chiori purposed and Kyoko opened her mouth, but then closed it up again.

"Could be," Kanae watched Kyoko as she continued, "what if it was Fu…"

"Don't you dare say that name," Kyoko threatened and Kanae pressed her lips together and nodded. "You're right, too far."

Kyoko sighed. "Why am I the only one being picked on? Amamiya-san had three people ring her alarm, and you had twenty!"

Kanae scoffed. "I did not have twenty. Honestly, I had my phone on silent after the 4th alarm in two days. I don't know when it rang or how many times it rang in a week."

"How do you know when someone is calling?" Chiori asked curiously.

"I don't. It goes straight to voice mail and I claim that I was working when I call them back," she replied and looked at them. "So if I don't answer your call, blame the Love Alarm. I'll get back to you within the hour or at least I try to check it every hour."

"Amamiya-san? Did you really not look into who rang your alarm?" Kyoko asked genuinely curious.

"I did not, but I think I know who it is. He was there all three times," she answered and both girls stared at her waiting.

She shrugged. "It's Sato-san from the variety show. He's been… friendlier and then when this thing came out, he became distant."

"Did you ask him about it?" Kyoko continued.

"No. I don't want to know. If it is him, he will ask me out and who needs that!"

Kanae snorted completely agreeing with the comment. She turned to Kyoko. "So then, you are the only one who knows who rang your alarm. Are you going to date… what's his name?"

"Hi… No!" She started to say his name and then caught herself. Kanae smiled like a cat who ate the canary.

"So it is Hiromune," Chiori said and Kanae was shocked.

"I thought you said he didn't like you," Kanae asked Kyoko who quickly nodded.

"He doesn't. I turned my ringer off when I go to the film Lotus, but I think I've been close enough to him to know if he would have rung it or not."

"Then who…."

*Chime*

Every single one of the girls stopped and looked down at their phone. As two of the girls found nothing, they turned the last who looked like she was going to jump out of the window. Instead of looking at the girl's phone, they twisted towards the door and started to run for it.

"STOP!" Kyoko screamed and Kanae and Chiori halted.

"Please don't go out there," she whispered. "I'll tell you who it is, but I don't want him to know I'm in here or that I know he is here."

Chiori looked at her with pity. "What if he is here to talk to you?"

Kyoko shook her head. "He never has before. Hikaru-san always spoke to me at work. He never sought me out here at LME"

"Hikaru-san?" Kanae asked.

"Ishibashi Hikaru from Yappa Kimagure Rock? You know from Bo, the chicken you tricked me into playing?" Kyoko clarified and Kanae nodded as she remembered.

"Yeah, I remember now. I can't believe you still play that role. I would have quit that job a long time ago," Kanae said.

"It's fun," Kyoko defended it. "And the Ishibashi brothers are my friends."

"Is he still here?" Chiori asked softly and Kyoko looked at her phone. The heart had left.

"No." She showed her phone to them. "See. He was only passing by." She dropped her phone and looked at the screen sadly. "Though I don't know why he turned it back on. He had shut it down that night."

"Maybe he is moving on," Chiori offered and Kyoko nodded with a sad little smile. _That would be nice._

Ren walked around the LME building with his hand in his pocket and his fingers almost going numb with his phone vibrating constantly.

Just going from the garage to the second floor and he was ready to throw the phone against the wall. Thankfully, Yukihito was not with him while he took this little detour. He wouldn't have done it if he was, but then maybe that would have been a good thing.

As it is, he felt foolish doing this. Foolish and a little underhanded, but mostly he felt stupid. Like he actually fell into the love trap that Lori set up for the LoveMe girls. They had to do it, they were forced to take phones and keep the app open, but him? What about him? Why was he walking down a busy hallway with his phone buzzing non-stop just to see if perhaps it rang in front of a pink door?

_She's probably not even in there. You are so stupid._

The door came into view and he felt his phone buzz, but then it buzzed two seconds ago, and as he took another two steps it buzzed again. So that might not mean anything; however, two seconds later everyone in the hallway froze as an extremely loud STOP erupted from the LoveMe room.

He smiled. _She's in there. _

He'd recognize that voice anywhere. Everyone started to move as they dismissed the noise. Ren hung back ready to hide if she came out, but she didn't. After a few heartbeats later, he figured it was safe to continue. _She's probably hiding from it._ He stopped at the wall just before it opened up for the door and then took out his phone.

**Someone within 10M loves you.**

**6**

He silently groaned. How are there 6 people in a 10-meter radius in love with him? How did they even know he was here?

_Perhaps if I wait a moment. _He thought and watched his phone as the numbers jumped down to 4 then back up to 7. A small group of people passed him and the number jumped to 11 momentarily. He shook his head and turned off the app.

It was simply too busy and the app was too annoying to keep it up. Plus, he didn't want to be caught with it in hand when she came out. _Off to see Yashiro before he comes looking for me._

His manager was at his desk, and as soon as Ren appeared, Yukihito started to pack his things up.

"Ren, could you grab this stack here. They are new offers," he told him and Ren obliged.

"Anything good?" He asked as they left. Once they reached the elevator, he riffled through them, glancing at the title of each cover page.

"I'm not sure, yet. I'll read them once I drop you off and Kyoko-chan starts her filming today."

Ren perked up. "Mogami-san is coming with us?"

Yukihito smirked knowingly. "Yes. We are collecting her right now in fact." Sure enough, Yukihito pressed 2 on the panel and Ren wished he didn't turn off his phone app.

_Then again..._

Yukihito was in high spirits next to him and he could only imagine why. No, wait. Cross that. He didn't want to know why. Nope. Having the app active was a bad idea around him. Even if that meant being alone in the car with Kyoko and getting to see if she rang his alarm.

_Not that it is important. _He reminded himself.

Once they arrived at the LoveMe room, Ren idly wondered if she was still in there. He hung back and waited as Yashrio knocked on the door. It was answered by Amamiya Chiori, the third girl that he hasn't spoken much to.

"Is Kyoko-chan here? We've come to pick her up," Yukihito told her and she opened the door wider for him.

"I'm ready!" Kyoko came springing out in a sweet little baby blue romper. Perfect for the sunny June day. Seeing her made his internal love alarm ring. Honestly, who needed a stupid phone app?

"Tsuruga-san!" she exclaimed shocked. "I didn't realize you were coming too."

"Ah, so you are surprised as well? At least I'm not the only one he doesn't tell these things to," he stated in mock frustration making Kyoko giggle.

"It does seem like to enjoy toying with us, doesn't he, Tsuruga-san," she played along as she stepped up to him to walk beside him.

"I'm right here," Yukihito said defensively, making them both smile at each other.

"Honestly, why does it matter if one or both of you are with me. You know that I'm taking care of both of you, so it should come to no surprise to either of you," he huffed as he pushed between then and quickly lead the way to the garage.

Kyoko pouted. "I'm sorry, Yashiro-san. But wouldn't it be best if you took Tsuruga-san's schedule as a priority over mine? I'm always worried about what may happen if my schedule disturbed Tsuruga-san's."

Ren was about to speak but Yukihito stopped and snapped around to face Kyoko with a surprisingly hostile aura.

"Are you trying to say that you don't have faith in my scheduling ability? As if I would schedule things so badly that I would jeopardize either of your time tables?

Kyoko furiously shook her head. "No! Never!"

Yukihito smiled. "Good girl. Let's go. We don't want to be late."

Kyoko looked up at Ren with a scared little grimace and he gave her a comforting smile. Honestly, she did sort of deserve it and it beat his constant reminder that he never minded taking her to where ever she needed to go when he drove. Why would Yukihito be any different?

After a twenty-minute car ride, Kyoko sent Ren off with warm wishes and good luck. When Yukihito pulled onto the street, she felt like she could breathe again. It looked like Ren still hadn't downloaded the app, and she was pleased to think that he never would. It was actually a massive relief. The only issue so far was during Yappa Kimagure Rock, where she could simply turn off the sound and no one would have to reminded of it again.

Life would be good. At least until this app thing faded.


	6. Torment

Kyoko arrived on set with Yukihito and as soon as they entered the studio the hallways split them off to two different directions.

"I'll be in the back of the studio reviewing this. Let me know if you need anything," he informed her but then hesitated when she called out to him.

"Yes?"

"Um," Kyoko stammered, "I don't want this to sound ungrateful, but why continue being my manager? I only have Lotus since Box R is on a break. Yet, you're here reviewing Ren's offers and driving me around. Wouldn't it be easier…"

"Hush," he interrupted her and smiled. "I have offers for you in here too."

Her eyes immediately lit up. "Really? Like what?"

Yukihito chuckled. "Let me look at them and I'll let you know of anything that looks promising, Okay?"

Kyoko nodded and walked down the hallway completely forgetting her original complaint. He went to the studio and found a nice spot behind all the cameras and out of the way but close to the concession table.

"Coffee," he drooled and quickly took a cup. Coffee, script offers, and two hardworking, talented clients who were completely in love with each other. How lucky can a guy get?

Meanwhile, Kyoko walked down the hallway with her head in the clouds thinking about what possible job opportunities could be awaiting her when suddenly a voice stopped her.

"That figures," Koga scoffed behind her as he stepped out of the shadows. Kyoko spun around and sneered at him. He held out his phone to her and she wanted to through it out the window.

"Where is your Love Alarm? Did you download it?"

Kyoko groaned and started to walk away. "Why does it matter if I did or didn't? You wouldn't ring my alarm anyway."

"Ah-ha! So, you do have it. Otherwise, how would you know how it works. Did you get to tell your little crush how you felt?" He provoked as he quickly stepped up and blocked her path.

"No!" she snapped. "Now stop hiding in the shadows and ambushing people to see if they ring your stupid alarm. You know I'm the kunoichi who is suppose to sneak around in the shadows. Samurai are upfront warriors," she complained making him laugh.

"You fit in more with clouds than shadows with the way you daydream all the time. I don't have to hide around you. You never see me even if I'm in front of your face."

"At least being compared to a cloud sounds nicer than a shadow. And I'm sorry if I keep missing you. I have a lot on my mind," she explained.

"Sure. You are cold and an air-head. It totally fits," he taunted making Kyoko gasp.

"Now you are just being mean!" Kyoko yelled at him. "I have not done a single thing to deserve your bullying."

"Yeah, you did, Tsuruga lover."

Kyoko blushed a dark red instantly and he continued, "See, you are a terrible actress. Every time he is mentioned, you fall apart. Does he enjoy having you like a pet that wags her tail around him all the time?" Kyoko flinched at the horrible image. That cut too close to her experience with Sho.

"First you call me cold and vapid, then a bad actress even though I worked my butt off to get this part, and now I'm a lap dog?!" Kyoko raged. "Do you want me to hate you?! I have to work with you. My character is in love with yours, and if you keep doing this it's going to be even more difficult to act that!"

"Pfft, see terrible actress," he said. "You can't even pretend I'm him to get it right?"

Kyoko had to take a deep calming breath after that.

"I'll be fine," she declared. "I have worked with my greatest enemy and successfully completed the job. I will not let your competitiveness towards Tsuruga-san affect my acting. I have been bullied my whole life, so whatever. What's one more? Now please excuse me. I need to get dressed."

She sidestepped him and left leaving him standing there watching her walk away. She was relieved to find that he did not follow her, but then a dark cloud fell upon her head in depression.

_Really, why is it always me? _There must be something from a past life that is leading all the bullies in the world to cross her path. She sighed as she opened the locker room door. Chatter escaped the room, coming from the other actresses due on set today. _Now is not the time to think about that. Smile. Have a good day. I can overcome._

There were only six hours of filming today. Surely this will be a test of her abilities showing how in love Momiji is to a person who loved to antagonize her offset. Taking a deep breath, Kyoko set off to start her day.

"Good morning, Kyoko-san," the girls greeted her and she replied in kind with an overly bright smile.

If Koga was offended or annoyed by the lack of love from her Love Alarm, it seemed like it made no difference in the outcome of their acting or their offset bickering, to which Kyoko was relieved. While she wished for a better working relationship with Koga since he is indeed a great actor, getting the job done and done well will have to be enough. The next few days filming with him let her know that he can and will use anything and everything to tease her. It could simply be about the weather and it would somehow relate to the fact that she was in love with Ren instead of him. So she was learning to let it go.

It was Friday afternoon when Kyoko and Chiori were dressing up for their LoveMe task for this evening.

"It's not fair that Kotonami-san got out of this," Chiori complained.

Kyoko smiled. "She pulled the long stick, and they only needed two people. It should be fun. We get to listen to music and we have backstage passes because we are part of the crew. Maybe they'll have lots of good food and drinks."

"Ugh, Who cares. I've got good food and drinks at home. And the bands never sound good live. It's all autotuned nowadays. Concerts are more evidence that you don't need to have talent to succeed. You can sound like a cat in heat, but if you have great breasts or awesome abs you are in," Chiori ranted.

"I don't think you even need that much," Kyoko joked making Chiori smile. Chiori came over and slung an arm around Kyoko in camaraderie.

"See, I knew you felt the same way," she grinned and then playfully leaned against Kyoko in agony, "We are going to be at there for like 6 hours. I'm going to die!"

"They'll probably have energy drinks if that helps," Kyoko offered.

Chiori lifted herself up and frowned. "I guess that will work." She zipped up her pink overalls and huffed. "You ready then?"

Kyoko closed her locker door and tucked her phone into her pocket. "As I'll ever be," she replied.

The girls left to meet up with the band on another floor. Their job tonight was to be crewmen for an all-girl rock band called B-Maids. They were going to assist in getting their equipment to and from the concert. Their normal crewmen all ended up with severe food poisoning after getting together for an after-work drink. It was terrible actually. LME got them temporary support in the form of a driver and the LoveMe girls to cart their instruments. Luckily, once they were there, they wouldn't have to set up the stage or anything. The venue would take care of that.

They were to report to studio 3 to get things packed up to go. All the girls were there when they arrived.

"Hello, we are here to help you get to your concert tonight," Kyoko told them and all five girls turned to look at them and immediately rushed them all talking at once.

"WAA! Look at those jumpers!"

"How pink!"

"How cute!"

"Let me see!"

"Turn around!" One of the girls grabbed Kyoko and spun her around. She was too stunned to stop her and it was too fast for her to object. Chiori had gotten captured by three other girls who were inspecting her LoveMe jumper too.

When Kyoko was able to get a word in, she spoke up, "Um, you like these?"

"Sure! I mean they don't fit in with our image, but Miku-chan had a dress exactly this color. Right," said the one who had spun Kyoko around.

"I'm sorry," Chiori said making the girls laugh.

"I gather you don't like them?" Another asked and both LoveMe girls shook their heads.

"Oh, then you should never join a band. We've worn so much worse," she told them and then amended, "and much better, but that's the way it goes."

"Did you want to go change then?" One of them offered and Kyoko and Chiori looked at each other for a moment.

"We can?" Chiori asked.

Again, they all laughed. "Sure, I mean unless there is a rule that you have to wear them. We don't care either way. I'll admit you will stand out backstage at a rock concert."

"We only have this though. Unless you have something else we can put on?" Kyoko asked with hopeful lit in her voice.

"Um, not unless you want to do physical labor in short black maid outfits?"

One of the girls ran over with a black garment bag. The girls cleared the way so that Kyoko and Chiori could see. The girl holding it unzipped it and pulled back the cover to reveal a two-piece black maid outfit. More of a leather and lace version of it with black leather-like material that made up a pleated skirt and a corset top. Blue ribbons were at the base of the skirt and lined the blouse to make it match.

Just thinking about trying to carry music equipment in those made both of the girl's blush.

"Um," Kyoko said with a blush and before she could say no, the girls laughed and took it away.

"We're joking. We have to wear those. Feel free to change if you want to, but please come back quickly okay?" All of the girls left them, still getting things together to leave.

"I was wearing a skirt, so I'm going to stay like this," Chiori said which made the decision easy for Kyoko. She was not going to abandon her friend to suffer alone in the pink curse. At least the girls thought it was cute.

They had all introduced themselves. Miku was on vocals and guitar. Saiki was only vocals. Kanami was on guitar. Akane was on drums and finally, Misa was on Bass.

It was easy to work with them. They told them exactly what to do and even joked around with them making the job entertaining. They weren't even insulted when they said that they had never listened to any of their music.

"That's good," Saiki said making them both confused. "That way we can be honest if you ask if we watched any of your shows. Which is No."

Chiori snorted and Kyoko smiled.

The venue was HUGE and there were people crowding up the streets and outside the grounds. There was a large screen that advertised the shows that were available to be seen. Kyoko watched the screen flicker with several singers and bands, dance groups and then finally she recognized the band she was with along with… Kyoko froze.

She tugged on the sleeve of the one closest to her which happened to be Akane. "You are playing with other artists?" she asked.

"Ah, yeah. Three others: Rock One, Vie Ghoul and Fuwa Sho. Vie Ghoul should be playing now," Akane informed her.

Kyoko let her head thunked onto the window and groaned softly. The night just turned into a nightmare.

Sure enough, as they got closer, she could hear the loud music coming from within. She didn't know anything about their songs, but they did sound like something Sho would do, therefore it is completely viable that it was Vie Ghoul.

Not that she thought Akane was lying, but she was praying that she was. The two vans drove around the building to a guarded gate with more people all screaming and cheering. As the van with the band members came forward the girls moved up and opened the windows. The screams of the fans came roaring through as they all smiled and waved to them.

Kyoko and Chiori happily moved to the back and out of sight.

Once they cleared the gate, they parked slightly to the side while the van with the equipment was backing up along the loading dock. Once done, the driver came out to help.

Everyone in the passenger van came out, Kyoko and Chiori were the first to exit then the girls. Misa came out last to which she beckoned them over. The driver along with Kyoko and Chiori followed the band in and was greeted by a guy with a clipboard and dozens of passes hanging around his neck.

"Hello ladies," the large man said with an incredibly deep voice. "How many are with you?"

"Three," Miko stated, "and we need some help getting our stuff on the stage. Our normal crewmen all got sick so we have untrained help from the agency." She gestured to the LoveMe girls and the man had to blink at them.

"They are with you?" he asked as if he didn't believe them.

"Yup! First-timers so give them works! They are good girls," Miko said and then gave them a thumbs up.

The man nodded and then proceeded to pull out three STAFF passes. He then wrote down the band's name on each of them.

"You can go anywhere you want with these. You cause trouble and you'll be spending the evening here," he said with an intimidating grumble. Or maybe that was just his voice, they weren't sure.

"Um, I'm okay with that actually," Kyoko said and Miko looked back at her with a frown.

"Ah-ha! You're joking right?!" Miko turned back to the bouncer. "She's joking. Hey, could you call out some guys to help? We need to go get dressed." She turned to Kyoko and Chiori. "Start unloading everything in front of the open door, the stage crew will come and help you soon."

They both nodded and started taking out the instruments while the girls ran inside.

Chiori called out to while hauling out one of the smaller drums. "Why don't you want to go inside? It would be boring out here."

Of course, Chiori knew she was serious but didn't bring it up in front of them.

"It's so loud in there. It would be quieter in the van," she lied and thankfully Chiori nodded in agreement.

"True, but there is no way I could spend several hours in the van. If it gets too bad, we'll find an empty room and talk trash about the groups." Chiori said but then amended, "Well the other bands. Ours is cool."

Kyoko laughed. "Sounds good."

They were able to pull out half of the instruments before the stage crew came out to help. They each were carrying out the last piece of equipment when one of them motioned for them to follow.

The music along with the background noise of mindless screaming fans swallowed them the deeper they walked in. They moved through several people all running around with headphones and staff badges on like them. Though they were wearing normal clothing as once again their flamboyant pink clothing set them apart.

They kept moving and the music kept getting louder and louder, and soon there was nothing but the beating of the drum vibrating through their body and then there he was. Kyoko's heart raced out of beat of the music as the lead singer sang front and center on the stage.

Reino.

She barely stepped into view of them and like magic, he turned. Still singing, Kyoko watched as Reino turned to his right and Kyoko felt the shock of electricity run through her body as he looked directly at her. Their eyes met and he belted out the most unearthly unnaturally perfect note in the middle of his song. The crowd roared as he held it for so long and once done, he smiled. He smiled that sick sweetly demonic smile that told her that he knew she was there.

A chill ran through her, ice searing her soul leaving her shivering in fear. _He won't do anything to me. There are too many people around. Just disappear and he won't find me. He can't hurt me. _

Suddenly she felt a jerk at her hands and she jumped and screamed though it couldn't be heard. The man looked at her with a look that said, "what?" He shook his head and quickly continued to work. He had taken the instrument she was holding and immediately started to open it up. The next hand that touched her was Chiori's, who was tugging her sleeve trying to get her to follow her.

Kyoko gratefully ran away from the stage and into the crowd. Chiori had her hands over her ears as she looked around and grabbed the first person she saw with nothing in his hands. She pointed to her ears and then to his. Kyoko didn't notice it but he was wearing earplugs.

He nodded and led them down the hall to a small case that had hundreds of foam earplugs. Chiori bowed in thanks and he smiled then walked away. She handed Kyoko a pair and they both ripped it open immediately and shoved them in. Both of them sighed in relief as the noise dulled. They still heard everything and they could feel the sound resonating within them, but it was not as mind breaking.

Now they were on their own, so they wandered around. Kyoko felt okay doing so since Reino was on stage singing and Sho was probably hiding his dressing room. If she saw it, it would be easy to avoid.

Kyoko had never been backstage. As much as she desperately wanted to when she was with Sho, he never gave her a pass and she could never afford to buy one. Knowing what she knows now, he probably would have done everything in his power to prevent her from ever going.

_Meh. This isn't that great anyway. _ It was a mess, maybe an organized mess to someone who knew what everything was. But to her, it was chaotic. Lots of people were wandering around, moving back and forth with equipment like wires and cases. They passed by several people sitting on instrument cases smoking what she was hoping were cigarettes. They found a small room that people walked in and out of that had tables of food and drinks. They walked in and found it was already ransacked with half-eaten trays of food and the only thing Kyoko was willing to touch were the closed bags of snacks. There were several ice chests with mostly melted ice and various drinks: Soda pop, bottled water, and beer. There were actually three coolers of different kinds of alcohol. Kyoko bent down and took a drowned bottle of water. She offered it to Chiori who bowed her head in thanks.

They still couldn't talk to each other, but it looked like neither of them were hungry enough to try the food.

They walked out with their water and wandered some more. They found the exit to the stands, turned around, and then found the hall to all the dressing rooms. Kyoko instantly wanted to turn around and Chiori stopped her.

Chiori frowned and plainly asked why with her expression. Kyoko opened her mouth and then closed it. She pulled out her phone and motioned for Chiori to do the same. The Love Alarm app appeared but pushed passed it before it could tell her anything. If it sounded, she couldn't tell. Pulling up the messenger app, she spoke to Chiori.

**Kyoko: Let's go somewhere else, anywhere else.**

**Chiori: Why? I thought there might be a chance for us to hide out in B-Maids' dressing room.**

Kyoko hesitated and then looked back into the chaos and down the hallway with all the dressing rooms. Finally, she nodded. There was no reason for Sho or Reino to come into B-Maids' dressing room.

Chiori smiled and they headed down the hallway. They saw a lot of security guards there and all of them eyed the two girls carefully. They kept their Staff passes around their neck and no one bugged them. Sho's room was the first one and Kyoko moved around to the other side of Chiori as if she could hide behind the smaller girl. The next was for a band called Rock One. She didn't know them but could guess what kind of music they played. Then it was B-Maids. They stopped at the door where the guard stepped up. He wasn't so much as tall but thick. He didn't look mean so much as bored or immune to bullshit. Chiori held up her staff badge and Kyoko did the same.

He held up a hand and slammed on the door loudly with his fist. Then they stood there. Chiori looked up at him while he remained motionless in front of the door. Nothing happened and the longer they stood there doing nothing, the more nervous Kyoko became. Finally, after what felt like forever the door opened and Kanami, the lead guitarist, popped her head out. The security guard moved back and then jabbed a thumb in their direction.

She looked at them, smiled and nodded, then proceeded to open the door for them to come in. Relief flooded Kyoko and they rushed in. The moment the door closed the silence was deafening!

Both of them worked the earplugs out and while they could still hear the music going, they could actually hear!

"Hi!" Saiki greeted them wearing the red version of the black maid outfit they saw earlier. All of the girls were dressed and were either fixing their hair or make-up. There were two couches in the room, a large vanity, and a bathroom off to the side. Chiori sat down on the couch with Kyoko sitting on the armrest to her side.

"Are you guys having fun!?" Miku asked and they both faked enthusiasm for them.

"It's awesome right! We are going up after Vie Ghoul, so we have to head out there soon. You're free to stay here if you want or come and watch the show. Do whatever you want until we get off the stage."

There was another pounding at the door to which Miku answered this time.

"20 minutes," a stage crew yelled to them and then left.

"Lots of time!" Misa said and sat back in her chair as she drew thicker lines of eyeliner over her eyelid.

Knowing that they were next meant that they would get to leave that much sooner. More good news.

"Once our show ends, the stage crew will take our equipment off the stage and pack it up. You'll cart everything back into the van. That's it! Then you two can come to the after-party with us!"

"After-party?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah! Rock One and Sho-kun are great fun to party with," Saiki told them. Kyoko pressed her lips together trying to keep her grudge demons down.

"You think Vie Ghoul will skip again?" Akane asked curiously.

"Do you still have a crush on Miroku?" Miku teased and Akane threw a pillow at her.

"It's not a crush. I admire him. Have you seen the way he handles his sticks and he has great rhythm? Perfect for you know," she stopped and grinned nefariously as started to tap the heel of her shoe on the ground in a steady beat with her panting heavily in time.

"Oh, you are so dirty!" Misa proclaimed. Kyoko didn't need help figuring what she was implying. A delicate blush decorated her face at the same time as a disgusting taste formed in her mouth.

"All you have to do is get Reino to come to the party. If you get him to come, you can get the rest of them to come," Kanami said. "Those guys follow him around like baby ducks with their mother."

Kyoko snorted and Chiori looked up at her curiously.

"We should get going for warm-up," Saiki told them and they all started to move.

"You guys come out and watch us when you can, okay?!" Saiki told them and they nodded. After a minute, Kyoko and Chiori were finally alone.

Kyoko moved from her seat and plopped down next to Chiori.

"We aren't going to the after-party, right?" Chiori asked in a careful voice.

"No way," Kyoko confirmed. "What are we going to do for the next hour?"

Chiori groaned, "An hour? Really?"

"Give or take. It's shorter because there are several bands playing. If it was only one, then it's 2 hours," Kyoko said absentmindedly.

"Hmm. You've been to a lot of concerts, Kyoko-san?"

"Uh, no," Kyoko said in a rush. "I'm not much into music." _Anymore._ There was a stretch of silence between the two girls that lasted long enough for Kyoko to realize that Chiori was analyzing her.

"You've been acting funny ever since we got here. Are you okay?" she asked Kyoko with genuine concern.

"Huh? I'm fine. I guess I don't like crowds," she lied, and Chiori sighed.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but don't lie," she stated sourly.

Kyoko instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry. Look, I have some history with some of the people here and I rather not have to speak or even look at them tonight if I don't have to."

"Oh yeah, who?"

Before Kyoko could reply, there was a loud banging on the door and before they could stand to answer a security guard entered.

"Out," he ordered and Chiori snapped up.

"We are part of their staff. They said we could stay," she asserted.

"Out. You can't be in here alone," he told them unyielding.

"But…," Chiori began to argue but Kyoko took her arm.

"It's okay. Let's go," Kyoko said and they begrudgingly left the room.

Kyoko took Chiori's arm and rushed out of the dressing room hallway as quickly as possible. Head down and eyes to the floor, they left like a pink blur. When they were finally out, the music of B-Maids now blaring through the hallways, they stopped to put the earplugs back in.

Chiori pulled out her phone and typed out a message.

**Chiori: Are you sure you are okay? You are starting to freak me out.**

**Kyoko: Yeah. I'm fine. Maybe we can head to the van? **

Chiori nodded and they started to make their way there. The noise was thankfully fading as they moved outside. Fresh air blessed them as they left the building and they both sighed with a smile and then laughed.

The girls took out the plugs and sat down on the raised cement platform taking in the bliss of not being inside there.

"So then were you in the music industry before being an actor?" Chiori asked for conversation sake. Though picking up where they left off before was not really where Kyoko wanted to go.

"No, but I grew up with someone who is playing here tonight. When he became famous, we left on bad terms. That's why I picked up acting," Kyoko explained.

"How would a musician make you want to act?" She asked confused.

Kyoko snorted. "I only wanted to beat him in popularity. I didn't care how. I pursued acting because of Tsuruga Ren," she told her with a sweet little smile, making Chiori smirk.

"Is that why you hang out with him so much? If I didn't know any better, I would think you were in love with him," Chiori said making Kyoko burst out in a fake laugh.

"HAHA! Well thank God you know me so well," Kyoko spluttered.

Chiori blinked wide eyes at her and blurted out, "You like him?!"

"What NO!" Kyoko yelled but her face heated up in a blush giving her away, to which Chiori took a picture of.

"Busted," she said and handed her phone to Kyoko. Kyoko looked at the phone and groaned. She stared at the photo and hated how stupid she looked. Her face was dark red all across her nose, cheeks, and the ear that was facing Chiori. Her eyes were closed, and she was trying a little too hard not to smile.

"This is awful," she declared confusing Chiori. "This is the second time this has happened."

"Second time? What? What happened?"

Kyoko looked sadly at Chiori and gave her a tiny pitiful smile. "I slipped up. It's getting harder to hide it if he is mentioned without my being prepared for it. Usually, I'm okay if I know that I'm going to see him or when I go to LME, but there are times when I slip up and I can't help but show how I feel about him."

Chiori blinked in shock. "Wait, it's true? Since when? Does Kotonami-san know? Does he know? Does President Takarada know?"

Kyoko laughed. "You aren't angry at me?" She asked and then added softly while looking away, "or maybe disappointed in me?"

Chiori looked at her friend who was bracing herself against her, against the words she was expecting to hear. It was like she was watching a shield rise up bracing for impact. It was painful to watch and even more so because Chiori respected Kyoko so much.

"No," she breathed and then said it stronger. "No!" She twisted to face Kyoko, lifting her left knee up on the platform. "I know we didn't start off on the right foot when we met. I was mean to you and well I hated you." Chiori confessed and it was her turn to look down. "But I got to know you. You and Kotonami-san. Kyoko-san, I respect you so much. I think you are talented, kind, hard-working, smart and unreal.

"Unreal?" Kyoko asked wondering why that word after all the others.

Chiori shrugged. "Yeah, it seems to fit you. I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I don't know if I could ever be disappointed in you."

Kyoko suddenly hugged her. Chiori was startled at first and then she returned the hug. When they parted, Kyoko had tears in her eyes and Chiori was blushing like mad and they both spoke at the same time:

"Why are you blushing?"

"Why are you crying?"

The laughed. Chiori went first, "I feel like I confessed to you."

Kyoko laughed making Chiori smile. "Thank you, Chiori-san. I don't know if I can live up to your expectations though."

"You don't have to. They are merely my thoughts. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she told her and Kyoko nodded.

"I understand how you feel. I feel the same way about Tsuruga-san. Except he's um…" she blushed thinking about him and then another thought entered her mind and her eyes went wide. She looked to her friend and tentatively asked, "…well unless you really did confess to me?"

"Ah, no," Chiori blushed. "I mean you're cute, but I don't think I like you like that."

Kyoko smiled. "Okay. I had to check. Not that I would have been upset, but I guess I should have known because you know my phone didn't chime or anything."

"Oh God, that stupid app," she scowled and pulled it up on her phone.

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

"That guy I told you about that rang it, he asked me out recently," Chiori told her.

It was Kyoko's turn poke and prod. "What did you say?"

"No," she said it as if it was obvious. Kyoko smiled.

"I think Kanae-san would do the exact same thing," Kyoko sighed. "I think I'm the only one stupid enough to fall into the hell trap that is love."

"Yeah, well it's a trap for a reason. He's like one of those scary spiders that make a nest under leaves and then pop out and grabs you when you innocently pass by."

Kyoko snorted and then full-blown laughed at the image. When she calmed down she shook her head. "That would imply that he was out to capture me. I'm pretty sure I'm the last meal he would want to eat."

"I'm guessing he downloaded it," she assumed since Kyoko sounded so unhappy.

"Ah no, no, no, no, he has not downloaded it," she stammered. "And he never will download it. His phone would blow up if he did and he already said that he didn't want that. I'm safe."

"Well, if that's true, then your heart would simply be one of many. He won't know it's yours. You are probably safe even if he did get the app," she reasoned and Kyoko shook her head.

"We share the same manager. Karma would make sure that I was the sole person in 10M radius of him sometimes and it would totally give me away. No. I hope he never downloads it."

Chiori nodded and looked at her phone. "I wonder how long it will be until we can take it off? Or get a new phone," she pondered.

"Is Seto-san the only one who rang it for you?"

She shook her head. "No, but I didn't look into the others. How about you? Was Hikaru-san the only one?"

"No," Kyoko said with a frown. "Honestly, it's been ringing more often, but mostly in LME and during really weird times. I looked around to see if it was Hikaru-san, but he was never around, so it's someone in LME. I tried to follow it once, but it disappeared. There were too many people around."

"Do you think…"

*Chime*

Both girls looked at each other and then down at their phone. *Chime*

"That wasn't mine," Chiori said and then looked at Kyoko's who also said zero.

*Chime*

"It's mine," Sho came up behind them with a cocky smile.

Kyoko groaned and hung her head down. Chiori connected the dots rather quickly as she looked from Fuwa Sho and Kyoko and wisely stayed quiet.

"Fuwa-san, is there something you need?" Kyoko asked with a professional fake smile.

"Why are you calling me that? And I saw the nightmare pink when we pulled through and had to see if you were stupid enough to actually be here, or if there were other idiots willing to be caught dead in that color," he scoffed and his phone dinged again.

Kyoko sneered. "Would you turn off your stupid phone? And who is even around to make it go off anyway?"

"I brought friends for the after-party," he told her and just as he said it, five girls all dressed in short skirts and flirty tops came up to him with two of them clinging to his arm. Behind them, Shoko-san was walking past shaking her head heading towards the security guard with the clipboard and passes.

"Sho-kun, are we going inside?" The girl to his right pouted.

He grinned lecherously at her. She had huge breasts and legs that went on for days. 100% Sho's type. "Of course. Follow Shoko-san inside and I'll meet up with you in a second." He watched them walk away and truthfully, Kyoko and Chiori did too. They were eye-catching for all kinds of reasons.

Once they were out of sight, Sho squatted down. "Seriously, why the hell are you here? Are you trying to get yourself kidnapped?"

"Kidnapped?" Chiori asked with concern.

"He's not serious," Kyoko tried to reassure her and shot a glare at Sho. "I'm working," she told him and showed him her staff pass.

"Then stop being an idiot and come inside with security before he sees you," he told her and reached for her arm.

"No!" She growled and slapped his hand away. "I'm fine. He won't do anything stupid with this many people around. Besides, he already knows I'm here and hasn't done anything yet."

"YET. Being the keyword. Wait until it gets dark, or at the after-party. Shit," he swore and hung his head, "Tell me you are not going to the after-party?"

"What if we were?" Chiori spoke up this time, irritated by him speaking to Kyoko like this but also worried about what he was talking about.

"There is no fucking way you two can go looking like that. You'd bring the reputation down of everyone there," he scolded making Kyoko smirk.

"All the more reason for us to go then," she retaliated.

"That is a wonderful idea."

Everyone turned to the deep voice and Reino stood there with an evil little smile. Sho stood up with a scowl.

"Go back inside," he ordered to which Reino ignored completely.

"Kyoko," he purred making her cringe. She felt him approach rather than see him do so. The moment she could feel his demonic aura, she hopped off the perch. He was reaching out to her, maybe to her hair, she didn't know.

"Don't touch me," she demanded, but he only smiled. Chiori also hopped off and walked tentatively to Kyoko, for support or something. She wasn't sure, but she wanted to be beside her.

"But I've missed you," he confessed. "I've been gone for so long. Don't I get a welcome back kiss?"

"Absolutely Not!" Kyoko hissed while Sho scoffed, "In your dreams."

Reino looked at Sho at this moment. "Shouldn't you run off? You're due on set soon. You shouldn't keep your public waiting."

"Like hell, I'm leaving you here with her," Sho fumed.

"I only wanted to talk to her," he turned back to her and stepped off the edge of the dock and landed on the ground almost gracefully. He slowly stalked up to her as he spoke, "I'll happily take you to the after-party, Kyoko. Though I agree that the pink is a little unfitting. It's a rather distasteful color." Kyoko had backed up until she hit the van behind her. He lifted his hand and pinched the corner of her pink jumpsuit collar with his index and forefinger.

"You're scaring her," Chiori slapped his hand away and stood between her and this creepy singer.

"Back off," Sho came up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. Reino held his hands up surrendering but kept his eyes on Kyoko over Chiori's shoulder.

"Is he in love with you, Kyoko-san?" Chiori whispered to Kyoko, but everyone heard it and everyone but Chiori answered.

"Yuck," Sho spat.

"NO!" Kyoko shouted.

"Yes," Reino answered.

Kyoko grew pale and Sho spun him around to look him in the eye.

"How could you be in love with her? You don't know her!" Sho argued.

Reino shrugged. "I have my reasons, but it's true. It's unfortunate that she has such obstacles though."

"It's not true," Kyoko mumbled as she shook. "A creature like you wouldn't know what love is, let alone feel it."

He dropped his hand to place it over his heart. "Then why is it my heart soars every time I sense you near me. I could feel it the moment you entered backstage. Your presence pierced my heart and I was drawn to you."

"That's your sick demonic powers at work! You probably want to eat my soul," Kyoko accused making him smile a wide toothy smile.

"Yes, I do actually," he said and Kyoko took a little step behind Chiori. Chiori was having trouble keeping up, not because it was beyond her, but because of this weird guy who was apparently stalking Kyoko. Then there was the fact that Kyoko was so intertwined with two such popular people.

_Three actually. Tsuruga is a powerhouse too._

Suddenly Chiori got an idea. "Prove it."

Everyone looked at her and she nodded. "Prove that you love her and if you don't. You need to leave right here and now and leave her alone forever. And if you do then we'll go to the after-party."

"Chiori-san!" Kyoko objected behind her.

"How do you propose I do this? I have confessed to her several times. She doesn't believe me."

"He what?" Sho asked but no one answered.

"Um, you can download the Love App. We have it, so if you loved her, her phone would alarm."

"For Fuck's sake!" Sho cursed. "That's your stupid idea! That thing works on everyone!"

"It does not!" Chiori proclaimed. "If it did, then we would trigger your stupid phone, but we don't, do we?"

Sho frowned just now realizing it. He looked down at it and saw that it did indeed say that no one loved him. Chiori had taken her phone out and showed it to him. No one loved her either.

"Kyoko-san," she whispered. Kyoko took out her phone and flicked the screen on then turned it towards them. The radar circled until it landed on zero.

"See, it's all on. No love," she turned to Reino who was looking bemused. "Your turn. Download it. As soon as you do, it will trigger Kyoko's alarm if you love her. If it doesn't then leave her alone."

"Deal, I ring her alarm and she is my date for the afterparty."

"I never agreed to that!" Kyoko announced taking a brave step forward.

He smiled. "Then you do believe me?"

Kyoko frowned. "I don't. I don't believe you are capable of it."

"Then let's prove it," he already had his phone out and was searching out the app.

"You can't be serious. It doesn't matter what that stupid phone app says. I will never do anything with you, hell demon!" Kyoko proclaimed and then the breath was stolen from her chest.

*Chime*

Sho immediately looked at his phone, but it wasn't his.

"No way," Chiori whispered in shock. Kyoko did not look at her phone.

Reino took the opportunity of everyone's stunned state to capture Kyoko's wrist within his hand and pull her towards him.

"See." He held up her phone and the bright pink heart lit up her screen.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

"The prize is mine," he stated, wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her.

"NO!" Chiori screamed. Sho simply charged forward and ripped them apart.

Reino laughed as he fell to the ground. Chiori caught Kyoko and didn't hesitate to push her forward and into the building, leaving the two men behind them.

Kyoko was being shoved forward with Chiori guiding her through until they reached the only place she could think of that might be safe - the women's restroom.

"Oh my God, Oh my God," Chiori chanted and Kyoko slipped from her arms to the ground. Chiori tried to catch her but failed. Kyoko was crying and it only made Chiori start to cry.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Chiori pleaded over and over again. "I didn't understand. I'm stupid. I never thought he would go that far. I'm sorry!" She bowed down with her forehead to the ground in the deepest dogeza she could possibly perform, still repeating apologies

Kyoko sniffed. "Chiori-san," she spoke softly, so much so that Chiori didn't hear her. Kyoko touched her hair. "Chiori-san. I don't blame you."

"How could you not?! It was my idea," she cried.

"You were only trying to help," Kyoko whispered as tears kept falling. "I never thought that he'd…"

Chiori rose up, tears still streaming down her face. "We don't know how the app works. Maybe it is a lust thing, or maybe he thinks you are interesting."

Kyoko grimaced. "That still doesn't sit well with me."

"I'm so sorry," Chiori bewailed as more tears fell.

"Could you give me a minute. Please?" Kyoko asked and Chiori hesitated. She didn't want to leave her but guilt and sorrow made her nod.

"I'll be right outside the door," Chiori stated.

Kyoko was left alone on the cold restroom floor. She took out her phone and was thankful that the app showed no one loved her. A shuddering cry uncontrollably escaped her and more tears fell from her eyes. She pressed her hand on her lips and clenched her hand into a fist in anger.

It helped a little. The tightness in her chest eased and the tears slowed, but she still felt cold and shaken. She pressed the home button and tapped on the phone. Before she could stop herself, she called him.

Ren picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"H…" She coughed and tried again. "Hi."

"Mogami-san, this is unexpected," he stated and she could hear the surprise in his voice, but it was up lit as if he was smiling.

"Are you busy?" she asked softly, carefully trying to keep her voice in control.

"No, I'm at home, done for the evening. Why?" He asked and then continued before she could answer. "Where are you? Is that music I hear in the background?"

"Yeah," she told him, took a breath, and closed her eyes. She leaned her head back and focused on his voice. "I'm doing a LoveMe job right now."

"Oh, is everything okay? Did you need something?"

"I, um…" she hesitated. _Would it be okay to tell him? What would it sound like if I told him that I needed to hear his voice? Would it be giving too much away? _

"Mogami-san," he asked with his voice full of concern.

"I wanted to talk to you," she confessed. "I'm on a break and um, but if you need to go…."

"No, it's fine, but are you really okay?"

Kyoko smiled and was able to answer honestly, "Yes. I'll have to go soon, but could you tell me about your day?"

Ren laughed but proceeded to tell her about his day. Kyoko sat there listening to his voice filling her ear. The music was still seeping in, but she remedied that with an earplug in her free ear.

Eventually, Kyoko had to get up to let people into the restroom, but she stood to the side and ignored them. Instead, she listened to him recall his day and asked questioned to keep him talking. They joked and talked shop and Kyoko's unease was gone by the time Chiori popped her head back inside to check up on her.

"I think I have to go," Kyoko sighed.

"Oh," he said. Kyoko frowned thinking that he too sounded disappointed. "If you must go then…."

"Yeah, but um," Kyoko licked her lips and blushed as she finished. "Thank you. I really needed this."

"I'm happy to help. Anytime, Mogami-san. Truly, don't ever hesitate to call me for any reason," he told her.

"Okay, Bye." She said and smiled as he bid her goodnight.

When Kyoko looked up, Chiori had ducked back outside. Kyoko took a breath feeling rejuvenated and headed back out. Chiori looked like a wreck when Kyoko came out and she felt bad for leaving her out here so long.

"He left," was the first thing Choiri yelled at her. Kyoko's brow furrowed not understanding.

"Fuwa-san's manager came out looking for you and found me. She said Reino left with the rest of his band members," she yelled to her over the music hoping to get everything across. While the music was still loud, the hallway to the restrooms damped it so some loud talking was enough.

Kyoko nodded and smiled. "Good! When is B-Maids going to finish?" She asked and started to walk away but Chiori stopped her. Kyoko looked back at her and she was looking down, feeling dejected and guilty.

Kyoko smiled and turned around. "Stop it," she yelled. "I'm not upset at you. He might have done a lot worse if you weren't there."

Wide eyes met hers and Kyoko nodded sadly. "Did he ra…"

"NO!" Kyoko quickly shot that down and then she frowned, "But he tried. Though I don't know how far he would have really gone."

Chiori's frown deepened. "How are you okay with this?"

"I found someone that gives me courage," she confessed and wiggled her phone. Chiori pressed her lips together and nodded in understanding. She stepped up to Kyoko and they started to walk out the hall.

"Just so you know, he is deathly afraid of Tsuruga-san. If there is ever a next time, where I freeze up around him. Say Tsuruga-san is coming to pick me up and he will run away with his tail between his legs," Kyoko beamed making Chiori snort.

"Seriously? That would have been a lot better plan than the stupid app idea! Why didn't you say that?!"

Kyoko's mouth twisted in though. They reached the end of the hall and stopped. "He has this power that makes me unable to move sometimes. I can't think or say anything. I sort of freeze up. I only thought about it now. Sorry."

Suddenly, the music stopped and the cheer of the fans was the only sound coming through. "Ah, I think they might be done. Shall we check it out?"

Chiori nodded but watched her friend turn to lead the way. _That's pure fear, Kyoko. I'm so sorry. _She thought with a heavy heart. Chiori swore with everything inside of her that there would never be the next time. She'd do everything she could to prevent anything like that happening again.


	7. Joy and Fear

The days progressed and honestly, this random chiming was getting rather irritating, so today was the day that she was going to find who the hell was ringing her alarm in the LME building.

Obviously, it happened again. In fact, several times within two weeks. Each time, there were scores of people all around her and the heart dropped as soon as she started seeking them out. It felt like whoever this person was, they were playing with her, and she was done!

Now.

The chime went off when she had just finished her LoveMe task for the day. Right now was the best time to seek them out as the day was ending for most of the people in the building.

Kyoko took out her phone and left the app on with its stupid little heart tormenting her. Kanae made it look so easy when she did it, so why was it so difficult for her?

She was on the 9th floor in the acting division. That didn't mean much as more than actors worked here. It literally could be anyone, but the alarm rang as she was passing by several cubicles and two possibly three conference rooms. She eyed the third door. She didn't know the layout of the offices enough to know where 10-meters would end. But the person was here. Right now.

Kyoko kept her phone on and looked through the cubicles first.

There was a single person working, an older woman in her late 50s. Kyoko didn't think it was her, which proved to be right when she walked away a few minutes later and the heart was still active.

_That leaves the conference rooms. Unless they are on one of the adjacent floors. _She shook her head at that thought. _Can't think that way. It would be impossible to determine if it reached that far. Just search out the conference rooms._

It took a while, but Kyoko figured out that the person had to be behind room 904. Two of the conference rooms were in use would trigger the alarm, but there was one angle away from room 903 that would turn it off. Now it was a waiting game. Kyoko found an empty cubicle within sight of the two rooms and sat down. It didn't matter if they were on 903 or 904, she was going to wait to see who came out of those two rooms.

It was 6 pm when the first group let out. It was room 904! She peeked out of the cubicle to watch half a dozen people leave the room and her heart sank a little. _Again, so many people! _She stared at her phone waiting for the heart to drop and failed to see someone approach.

"Mogami-san?" Ren's voice shocked her and she quickly jerked her phone to her chest to keep him from looking at it.

"Tsuruga-san!" She exclaimed and then added seeing a second man, "Yashiro-san. What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Kyoko-chan," Yukihito greeted her. Ren smiled down sweetly at her as she still hadn't gotten up from her crouching position. Though she was almost sitting all the way back to look up at them.

"We were in a meeting for an upcoming role. What are you doing?" Ren asked and crouched down with her so she wouldn't have to strain her neck so much. It looked terribly uncomfortable.

Before Kyoko could answer, Yukihito spoke up, "I need to update the contract we discussed while it's fresh in my mind. We are done for the day, so I'll see you tomorrow, Ren."

"Bye," Ren said and turn his attention back to Kyoko. "So? Are you working on your kunoichi skills for Lotus?"

She blushed. "I need more work if that is true," she mumbled making him chuckle. Her heart sung at the little sound she brought out of him, but she swallowed her joy and answered him. She stood up and fixed her dress a little, hoping that it was still presentable. Ren followed suit and stood up with her.

I um," she didn't want to tell him, but she didn't know what else to say. "I was hunting," she timidly answered and showed him the heart, which was still active shockingly enough.

_Huh? I was wrong. It was room 903. _

A cough brought her attention back to Ren who was looking away to clear his throat. He wasn't looking at her as he slipped the hand he used to cough with back into his thick brown hair and slicked it back. It looked like a nervous gesture, but Kyoko lustfully watched his fingers slide back into his soft hair, her own fingers wishing to sink into the silky depths of it.

"…finally meet him, Mogami-san?"

"Hmm?" She hummed, refocusing her eyes back to his and blushed. "Sorry, repeat that."

He smiled. "What are you going to do when you finally meet him?"

"OH, Um. Nothing! I only want to know who it is. You see, it's always here that it rings. Not like this spot here. I mean here at LME. I know Hikaru-san will ring it, but he hasn't since that first night, so I think he deleted the app. It's been happening more and more often and only here. I guess my curiosity was peaked," she explained and then thought she sounded stupid. She waited for his disapproval.

"Then I'll wait with you," he told her and stepped into the little office with her.

"Eh?"

"Sure, why not? Unless you want to know so you can see if you trigger his alarm too? Maybe you want some privacy for that?" He asked even though he was already getting comfortable sitting in the chair she was previously using.

"Ah, no! Um, but I don't, uh, I guess…" she stammered and then asked, "Why do you want to know?"

_Because I'm a masochist. Seriously, I know I'm the one triggering her phone, why am I doing this? I want to look at my phone too. I should have taken off Do Not Disturb. Would I have heard a beep when she came by? _

He smiled at her. Knowing his luck, his phone has several hearts still lingering on it. Still, he wanted to look badly, his hand itched to reach into his pocket and look. Maybe there was only one, maybe it was hers. _Maybe you are dreaming, Ren._

"I'm concerned, Mogami-san," he told her and leaned in, planting his elbow on his thighs. "You are hiding out here to find some stranger who is in love with you. Alone in an empty office with it getting more and more empty by the minute. Aren't you worried about what they may do if they find you? What if they are a stalker?"

Kyoko laughed, "That's not possible."

"Says the woman with two stalkers already," he told her making her flush with a scowl. _Three with me, maybe four with Ishibashi-san. Too many. Far too many._

"Fine," she snapped. "But it really was never my intention to confront him. I'm not as brave as Moko-san, and honestly, I wouldn't know what to say to them if I did meet them. I don't want to be mean to them, but I also can't reciprocate their feelings." Kyoko idly stepped into the cubical and leaned against the edge of the desk beside him.

He leaned back in the chair and watched her as she stared thoughtfully at the ground and he had to ask, "Because you don't believe in love?"

She flushed, her cheeks flushed first and then it brightened slightly at whatever she was thinking of.

"It's not that I don't believe in love. It's that love leads to evil things," she told him.

"Not always," he countered making her look over at him. He had settled in the chair with his chin resting in the palm of his hand, fingers curled around his cheek and mouth, his elbow resting on the armrest of the chair.

"Love can also lead to beautiful things like laughter, joy, companionship, comfort, and other things," he listed and watched her shut down, choosing to look at the still-closed door.

"It also brings out jealousy, hatred, heartbreak, pain, sorrow, and _other things_", she mocked him and while her eyes flickered to him warily, she didn't retract her statement even if she thought she offended him. Silence filled the air between them and while he was watching her, studying her, Ren could tell he was making her uncomfortable as she squirmed under his gaze.

"I don't want you to feel that way," he said softly, making her look at him again. He had dropped his hand and was looking up at her with worry or maybe it was pity.

_Pity is more likely. _She told herself. Kyoko sighed. "Yeah, well there isn't really much I can do about it, except do my best to keep it away from me." The door opening caught her attention and she ducked down again.

Ren watched her peek her head out and she lit up her phone again. Her phone showed the little heart still, letting her know that he loved her. Letting her know that he was within 10-meters of her, loving her from afar, like always.

As the people started to pass by, Ren took out his phone, turned it on and switched to the app so he could shut it down before everyone left the radius. That way she doesn't freak out knowing it's him that's triggering it. As he tapped the screen to switch to the program, he paused once it came up.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

Ren's heart jumped into his throat and without thinking he stood up. Kyoko fell from her crouched position and twisted around to look at him from the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Kyoko hissed at him as he lifted himself up onto the desk to stand on it. He towered over everything and frantically looked around. Everyone that had left the conference room stopped and looked up at him.

"Tsuruga-san?" Three out of the four men that were in the office came closer and Kyoko wanted to duck under the desk to hide. Instead she shuffled deeper into the corner that she was in and tucked herself into a little ball.

"Is everything okay?" One of them asked. Ren looked at the three of them. The person who spoke was an older gentleman probably in his 60s. The next was middle-aged with glasses and a wedding ring, Ren noticed as he adjusted his frames. Last was a younger man, only slightly older than himself. Ren stared at him for a moment and the look of pure confusion and absurdity on his face told him there was no way that he would trigger Ren's alarm.

There was no one else.

The fourth man had already left, and there was no one else in the office. No one in the other cubicles. No one in the other conference rooms. No one!

Ren looked down at Kyoko who was tucked into the corner of the cubicle trying to hide and smiled brightly.

"Yes," he declared and jumped down. He was still tall enough to look over everything and speak to them. "Everything is perfect," he reassured them and looked adoringly down at his phone.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

"Are you sure?" They asked again, and he nodded with a large smile and proceeded to apologize for the outburst.

They dismiss it and started walking away. As soon as he thought they were walking out of distance, he picked up his phone and turned off the app. He watched them leave and fought to control himself because right now there was no telling what he would do.

_Hold her. Hug her. Kiss her. Love her. She loves me. Kyoko loves me. She rang my alarm. Love. She loves me. I'm dreaming. _He closed his eyes with his lips still smiling brightly.

"What in the world were you thinking?!" she demanded and he couldn't help but point that 1000 watt smile down at her.

"Wha…" Kyoko flinched and looked away timidly. "What is going on with you?"

"Nothing, I'm great. Fantastic really," he said enthusiastically making her brow furrow. Not really understanding him, she lifted her phone and her face fell.

He saw the message on her phone and instantly wanted to rebuke it.

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

"I guess it was one of them," she sighed and then nodded. "Okay, so the younger one I guess…."

"Would you like to go to dinner with me?" Ren asked her the moment her words drifted off. Kyoko opened her mouth and then closed it and then opened it like a fish out of water. It was adorable.

"Um, I, if.."

"Please?" he pleaded and softened his expression.

"Ah, okay! Okay!" she agreed. "Put the puppy dog away," she told him as she stormed out of the cubicle shielding her eyes from him. He wasn't sure what she was talking about, but it didn't matter. They were going to dinner.

He found a restaurant somewhere between family and reservation only that they could eat at. Sporting his sunglasses and ball cap, Ren was all grins behind her as she asked for a back table for the two of them.

"Way, way in the back, please?" Kyoko reinforced to the host all the while Ren kept his head down smiling while he looked at Kyoko.

"Right this way," the host motioned them forward. Kyoko glanced back at him to ensure that he was following and quickly looked away.

_Why is he sparkling so much? _All it took was one glance and she felt her face enflamed. He was smiling that demon shattering heavenly smile and his eyes were glassy in happiness. Her heart stopped during that brief moment. Once she turned back to follow the host, it hummed in her chest trying to catch up again.

"Is this okay?" the host asked, and Kyoko nodded quickly unable to speak.

"Thank you," Ren covered for her as she sat down facing the crowd allowing him the seat away from them. Kyoko wasn't sure if her face was normal yet, so she took her menu and quickly hid behind it. She closed her eyes and took a few deep calming breaths. After a few seconds when she felt it was safe, she lowered the menu and promptly returned it. _Still smiling!_

Kyoko coughed. "You are um," she bemused, "in a good mood today. I gather your meeting went really well?"

"Hmm, sure. It went as well as any other," he told her, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"But uh, you are hopeful then?" she asked trying to figure out what made him so happy tonight.

"Yes, very," he replied in a husky voice making her frown and peaked over the menu. Suspicious eyes met his shinny happy ones.

"You're hiding something from me. Is this a new way of bullying me?" she asked making him snort.

"What? Why?" He asked confused.

She dropped her menu down completely flat on the table and let out a noisy huff. "You are unnaturally happy tonight."

He barked out a laugh and Kyoko quickly shushed him. "People are looking!" She quickly picked up his menu and put it up to hide his smiling, laughing face.

When he simmered down, he was once again sparkling with humor and joy with soft brown eyes gazing at her. Her chest felt light and her heart was beating in her throat.

_How is he so breathtakingly gorgeous? _

"I'm in a good mood, a really, really good mood. Is that a crime?" He took the menu from her hand and started to review it for something he could stomach.

Kyoko shook her head. "No, of course not, but I was curious as to why?"

It was Ren's turn to stay quiet. Kyoko watched him read the menu and wished he would take off his hat. She could only see half his face, from the tip of his nose down to his strong jawline. He was still smiling, those full lips stretching across perfect teeth. It was such a harmless thing, his mouth. Those lips, that smile, why did it make her knees feel weak?

"May I get your drinks?" The waiter walked up as a welcomed distraction. She plastered on her public smile.

"Water, please," she replied.

"Same," Ren answered in a soft voice without looking up. The waiter left and Kyoko focused on dinner.

"Set B looks good," she commented and he dropped his menu.

"Let's get the set for two and share it," he offered.

She looked at the menu but saw him reaching for his phone. It must have buzzed, though she didn't hear anything. Nevertheless, she allowed him some privacy while she looked at the set for two. It was filled with 5 different kinds of sushi rolls.

*Chime*

Kyoko froze and the grip on her menu tightened. Hyper focused on the words before her, she didn't see Ren smiling at her watching.

"Are you going to answer your phone?" He asked and she blinked up at him.

"What?"

"You got a text or email, right?" He asked innocently.

"Oh, um," she nervously glanced at her purse which held her phone. "No. It's fine. If it was important, they would call."

"Okay," he let it go. "Then do you agree," he asked again.

"Agree? Agree to what?"

He hid his face behind his hand to keep himself from laughing. "The set for two. Are you okay sharing that?"

"Oh!" Kyoko looked down at the menu again, and Ren did the same but not at the menu. "Yes! Sure. It's cheaper than getting two sets."

*Chime*

He watched Kyoko squirm in her seat as she looked down beside her and then nervously looked around the restaurant. He too glanced at his phone and smiled at the little pink heart on his phone. He sighed blissfully. He kept his phone on mute to negate the tell. He didn't want to make her nervous. Not yet.

"Are you sure you don't want to get that?"

"Absolutely," she confirmed resolute. The waiter came and Kyoko placed their order and her shield left with him. She was left with nothing but the water glass and the devastatingly handsome man in front of her.

"What did you do today, Mogami-san?" He asked as he turned off the app again.

"It was boring actually. They didn't need me on Lotus today, but I went anyway to work on my throwing. I'm not as accurate as I want to be, so I put in an hour on that and then did some climbing," she chatted.

"Climbing?" He asked genuinely curious.

"Yeah, they have a climbing wall at the gym they are training me at and since I have to hide in trees and such, I thought it would be good to know what I'm doing. Even if I'm in safety harnesses."

"That sounds fun. Did you enjoy it?"

Kyoko had to think about it and slowly smiled. "Yeah. It is fun. Honestly, this week has been crazy and it was nice to lose myself in something physical."

"I completely understand," he agreed with a honey-thick voice.

*Chime*

Kyoko groaned. "Excuse me," she told him as she twisted to rifle through her purse. This was the first time his smile wilted as he glanced at his phone. _It's off. Why did it…._

"Excuse me," two young teens came up to their table making both of them look up though Ren quickly looked down. It was a bright smiling young girl and a shy timid young boy, probably around Kyoko's age perhaps younger.

Kyoko glanced at Ren and then back at them. "Yes?" she asked.

"Um, are you Natsu-chan from Box R?" she asked nervously and Kyoko blinked and then blushed.

"Ah yes, How did you…"

The girl giggled. "It was Kenta-kun here. He totally recognized you the moment you came in. Um, could we get a picture with you?"

"With me? Are you sure?" Kyoko asked dumbfounded making Ren snicker.

"Yes, please!" The girl cheered out while the boy stood blushing silently beside her. They took a selfie of the three of them since it was best that Ren was not noticed. They bowed their thanks to her and left the table giddy after meeting a starlet.

Ren was grinning at her as she sat down.

"There is room on this side of the table if you like," he teased making her flush and then laugh.

"Yeah, well at least now I know."

"Know what?"

"Ah, sorry. That chime was the app. That's why I was ignoring it, but it was a fan as odd as that was," she said relieved.

He cocked his head. "Why is that odd? You are doing more and more work. You are on your third series and it's only been a year. Soon you'll have to wear a disguise just like me."

She snorted and shook her head. "No. I'm not. That won't happen. I'm forgettable."

"No," he snapped firmly stunning her. She looked at his face that had dropped all humor. "You are not forgettable. You are the least forgettable person I know."

She flushed. "I…"

The server came by and Kyoko shut her mouth. Ren watched her as the waiter set the bridge down between them. Her eyes were cast downward, her cheeks held a delicate flush and she was nibbling on her lower lip. Something that he wanted to do.

_She is so beautiful. _

"No, thank you. This is fine," she answered the question he didn't hear snapping him out of his thoughts. "This looks delicious, right?"

"Yes, delicious," he murmured as he stared at her. Her eyes looked up at him and widened slightly and then she blinked and grabbed the chopsticks in front of her.

He did the same as he spoke, "You seem to be embracing the idea of the app now."

"Eh?" Kyoko snapped up as she had picked up her first piece of sushi and immediately dropped it. "W.. do you mean?" she stuttered.

"Every time I see you, it chimes and you are dealing with whoever made it ring. Isn't that the point of it? Isn't that what Takarada-san said to do?" He asked.

Kyoko turned as bright red like a pepper. "It does not chime every time. I'm not. It's not…" she struggled.

"It's fine, Mogami-san. It means that you are popular. That's a good thing," he stated with his voice flat and detached.

"I guess," she mumbled. Her heart was feeling heavy. Suddenly the night took a turn to the awkward and she had no idea why or how it flipped like that. First, he was making her chest explode and now she wanted to burst into tears.

Ren shoved a piece of sushi into his mouth and forcefully chewed. _Shit. I didn't mean it to go that way. One guy comes in for a damn autograph and I get jealous. _The moment someone else rang her phone, a switch flipped inside of him. He picked up another piece and glanced at her.

She was crying.

"Mogami-san?"

"Excuse me," she whispered. "I'll be back in a moment." She slipped out of the booth hiding her face from him.

"Mogami-san," he called to her and almost moved after her, but he stopped as he looked around the room and moved back in.

_Damn it. Why is she crying? I did compliment her, right? Everyone needs to be popular in this business. I said a good thing. _ _How do I fix this?_

Kyoko ran to the restroom and ran to the sink. "Calm down. Calm down," she told the reflection of herself. She turned on the cold tap and splashed some water on her face then turned it off. Hanging her face over the bowl, she let the water drip off her face as she took several deep breaths.

"Everything is fine. He was making a simple comment. He didn't mean anything by it," she reinforced and moved to get a paper towel to dry up.

Ren was on his phone again when she approached. She took a deep breath again before she was close enough for him to notice her.

"Sorry about that," she told him and saw that none of the food was touched. Honestly, she wasn't hungry anymore.

"Mogami-san," he started but she cut in.

"Actually, I hate it," she told him. "I hate the app more now than I did before. So far my experience with it has been nothing but pain and heartache and learning things about people that I wish I never knew."

Ren sat back listening; his face blank.

"Moko-san doesn't answer her phone ever since she got it. Rather than listening to it beep, she has the sound off at all time. She was never really responsive to begin with, but she would at least answer me when I called. Now I text her and she answers at the end of the day. Amamiya-san is having trouble at work because of some guy that likes her. Which I completely understand, because Hikaru-san hasn't been the same since I found out he liked me. And then at the concert…."

Kyoko pressed her lips and was shaking subtly making Ren lean forward with concern.

She shook her head. "Today at the office where you found me. I wanted to know who it was because… because I wanted to know who to avoid. I don't want him to ask me out. I don't want him to confess to me. I don't want to break his heart. I don't understand why this Love Alarm is a good thing. So far it's been nothing but stress and pain."

Kyoko looked at Ren waiting for something. She didn't know what: a response, a question, something.

"Um. Sorry," she apologized again. "When you asked how I was coping with it. I, um, it's been terrible."

There was more silence between them and Kyoko took a drink of her water to help swallow down the pressure inside of her.

"You called me that night. The night with the music. What happened at the concert?" He asked softly, with a low careful voice.

Adrenaline shot through her, and she didn't know what to say.

When she didn't say anything he continued, "Was it Fuwa? Did he trigger your phone?"

"No," she objected adamantly. "Why do you always jump to him? Wait! Just listen before you say anything. He was there, but he wasn't the problem. I didn't know he was going to be there. I went to support B-Maids and Amamiya-san was there. But Beagle was there too and..."

"What?" He said darkly, and she cringed.

"I know, but I was working and…"

"Mogami-san, you are allowed to leave your job if your violent stalker appears there," he fumed quietly trying to control his anger.

"You're right. I should have left as soon as I found out he was there. I should have asked more questions about the job, but I didn't. My obligation to work convinced me to stay, and I was punished for it."

"Punished? How?" He asked and she blanched.

"The love alarm," she said softly, her eyes looked down and she swallowed something. From the look on her face, it was something thick and disgusting and then she rasped, "he rang my phone. Him of all people."

"If that's all that happened, then it's not so bad," he reasoned, trying to comfort her.

Kyoko shook her head and whispered hauntingly. "It wasn't."

"What did he do?"

Tears welted up in her eyes and she shook her head.

"Mogami-san," he prodded but she shook her head.

He sighed. "Fine. You don't have to tell me, but what happened after the phone call?"

She smiled then; it was small but it was a smile. "Nothing, he left after he took what wanted."

Ren groaned. "I'm assuming he didn't do anything crime worthy, so please word it another way. The thoughts running through my head are not helping my temper."

"I'm sorry," she croaked and he looked up to see her crying again. This time he did get up and moved to sit next to her.

Kyoko stiffened as he sat next to her and forced her to move over. He put his arms around her and she was suddenly being hugged.

"Mogami-san, I'm not angry at you," he breathed into her hair. Kyoko was struggling internally at the moment. Ren's arms were holding her. The side of her body was leaning against his chest, her head resting under his chin. The heat and scent of him surrounded her instantly making every cell of her body come alive.

"I hate that you went through that again. I love your work ethic, but I'm frustrated that you let yourself get into this situation. Your pain, your fear is not worth a job. If someone is threatening you in any way you should leave." He pulled her in tighter. "I would have picked you up. I would have left immediately to pick you up," he told her and she slumped in his arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and closed her eyes allowing herself to sink into his embrace. She took a deep breath and filled her lungs with his cologne. Her hands instinctually reached out to him, fingertips touching the softness of his shirt and then feeling the hardness of his chest.

Ren was suddenly very aware of her in his arms. As if she appeared there like magic, he was almost shocked to find her tiny body cuddling up into his chest. His anger faded away to his desires. His face was already in her hair and he struggled not to nuzzle in deeper. He flexed slightly and felt her body shift slightly against him. His left hand pressed against her shoulder blade. His right hand held her waist, his fingers feeling the ruffle of her blouse and the elastic band of her skirt. They itched not to wiggle through and touch her.

When she reached out to him, a shiver ran through him at her touch. He felt her hand pushed forward, those fingers moving up until her palm touched him.

"Your heart is racing," she mumbled against him and he let out a held breath.

"I know," he breathed.

Kyoko moved back and Ren reluctantly let her but was surprised to find that she didn't completely pull away. Her hand stayed on his chest and she moved to tilt her head up, to look up at him.

"Why?" she asked softly as she looked up at him, her gold eyes heavy-lidded and expression soft. Soft like her lips.

His left hand moved from her back to her shoulder and then her neck. Blood rushed up to her face as he touched the bare skin on her neck. His long fingers tickling the fine hairs on the back of her neck and his thumb grazed her jaw making her eyes fluttered closed.

"Kyoko," he whispered and moved forward. His thumb pushing her chin up, her lips up towards his.

"Is everything okay with your meal?" The waiter interrupted and both of them jerked back.

"Ah, Yes," Ren said as he grabbed his hat and pulled it over his face to cover him further. He felt Kyoko pull away from him, even though he took up most of his seat, she found a way to remove the warmth of her body away from him and move down the bench.

"Actually, can we get this to go?"

"Of course," the waiter said and picked up the barely touched meal.

Neither of them knew what to say or do. Ren snuck a glance at her and found her blushing beside him trying to school her face. He smiled and took a breath to cool his insides.

"Here is your meal and the check. I can collect it when you are ready," the water stated, placing both items on the table, and Ren stopped him.

"Wait, here," Ren stopped him, reached for his wallet and pulled out some bills. "Thank you," he gave the waiter the bill and he promptly left.

"How much was it," Kyoko chimed in. "Let me split it with you."

Ren snorted. "When has that ever worked with me?"

Kyoko sighed, "Never. I still have to try." She smiled.

"No, you don't," he countered. "You could just let me spoil you."

She blushed and he ached to take her into his arms again. "I think you mean bullying me."

"Why not both," he teased making her snort.

They left the restaurant and he was driving her home. The ride was quiet and short. Both of them lost in their own minds. Each of them wondering, dreaming, thinking if what had happened in the booth was real and fantasizing of the thought of actually following through.

He parked beside the restaurant and Kyoko looked over at him in the darkened car. "Thank you," she said softly.

"I didn't do anything to be thanked for," he told her as he twisted towards her to talk.

She giggled. "There is always something I can thank you for."

"Like what?"

"Hmm," she thought about it. "Dinner."

"You didn't eat," he pointed out.

"The ride home then," she countered making him nod.

"Any time," he replied and then added. "And for dinner too. You should take this." He handed her the packaged-up meal, placing it on her lap.

Kyoko objected. "But we were supposed to split it. Please take one of them to eat." She started to open the plastic bag to take one out for him.

"I'm not going…," he started but then stopped.

"Not going to what?" she threatened subtlety.

He smiled sweetly at her. "I'm not going to let it go to waste," he amended.

She matched his smile with one of her own. "That's what I thought." She continued to untie the knot, lifted the top container and handed it to him.

"Thank you, Mogami-san," he begrudgingly said making her laugh.

"Open it," she commanded, and he obediently did a little confused. He watched her take out a pair of chopsticks and snap them in two.

"Are you going to eat? Now?" He asked.

"Hmm," she sounded as she took one and ate it as an answer. She covered her mouth with her hand and spoke a little muffled. "I'm helping you. Don't complain."

He smiled and then laughed as she ate another piece. Her appetite came back after all that.

"I would never," he said and reached in for a piece with his fingers.

"Oo, wait. There are another set of chopsticks in here," she jumped to get them eager to assist if he was going to eat it.

"Don't bother," he told her and popped the piece into his mouth. "Besides aren't you suppose to eat it with your fingers?"

"Sometimes, but this is your food, so I didn't want to dirty it with my hands."

Ren snorted. _I'd eat it off your body if I could._

"What?" she asked to which he quickly shook his head. She eyed him suspiciously but let it drop. She quietly ate with him and actually finished the whole box together.

"Oops," she playfully said at the empty container.

He twisted his lips wondering if he should say anything but did anyway. "I'm guessing you're going to want me to take half of yours?"

"Absolutely not! This is mine," she said as she protected tomorrows lunch. He chuckled and closed the box.

"I'll take that and throw it away," she said and tucked her dirty chopstick inside.

"Thank you," he told her as she gathered her things to leave.

Kyoko laughed. "I knew what you were doing asking to "share" a meal for two. It's so you don't have to eat a whole portion by yourself."

"I was thanking you for accompanying me to dinner, but sure that too."

"Ah. Thank you for inviting me," she said and then nodded. "I should go."

"Goodnight, Mogami-san," he said softly with a thick voice.

"Goodnight," she mumbled and opened the door. She closed it with her hip since she had her hands full. After a moment of shuffling, she was able to free a hand. Kyoko ducked down to peer through the window, smiled, and waved bye.

He watched her go for a moment. He slipped out his phone and turned it on.

Kyoko felt like she was walking on cloud nine with a huge smile on her face. She was so lost in her thoughts that when her phone dinged, she absentmindedly checked it.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

Her breath stopped, her heart dropped and she was lucky that her strength didn't leave her but instead locked up in place. Kyoko looked around the area and every hair on her body stood up. She was too far from the restaurant door to have someone in there trigger it. Her hand gripped her phone and she started to shake. The sound of an engine roared behind her and headlights came on. She twisted back on the ball of her foot with her phone lighting up the dark. She watched Ren slowly leave. He crept forward and waved at her with a smile. He didn't reach the end of the block before the heart fell from her screen and her phone dropped.

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

He has the app.


	8. Exposed

The next day, Kyoko woke up disheveled not sleeping a wink.

"He has the app," she repeated out loud for the umpteenth time. _No, he wouldn't download that, and even if he did, her phone wouldn't ring. So then he must not have the app. It must be someone from the restaurant. Someone from the restaurant who left at the exact same time as Tsuruga-san leaving, because that is the only thing that made sense. Just because no one else was around doesn't mean anything. So what if was too far from the restaurant. Maybe I was closer to it than I thought I was. My phone never beeped around him before. He wouldn't download it. It's my imagination. Just like during dinner. He wasn't going to kiss me. He didn't make my phone alarm. _

_He doesn't have the app._

_He didn't ring my phone._

_My phone didn't ring!_

*Ring*

Her phone rang and she tossed it away from her. She blinked as it rang again and realized that it was a call. Someone was calling her.

Crawling over her futon and scrambling to get to the phone, she answered it panting, "Hello? Yes?"

"Kyoko-chan, everything okay? Did I wake you up?"

It was Yukihito and relief flooded her.

"No," she reassured him. "No, I'm awake. Good morning. How are you? Is there something you need?" she rambled.

"Actually, I wanted to touch base with you. Today you are booked with Lotus, so I'll be picking you up at 3 today."

"No, I'm going to go in early! No need to pick me up. I'm good," she barked making Yukihito sigh.

"Kyoko-chan, we've been through this. It's my job to…."

"You're fired!" she snapped and held her breath.

"Excuse me?!" Yukihito sputtered in shock.

"Sorry!" she squeaked and then hung up.

On the other side of the phone, Yukihito was looking at it with his jaw hung down utterly speechless. Ren was sitting next to him waiting patiently to be called in.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"She fired me," Yukihito stammered in disbelief.

"Mogami-san… fired you?" He repeated for clarity.

"Yes. She fired me and apologized and then hung up on me," he recapped and both men frowned.

"That doesn't sound right. Did she say why?"

Yukihito shook his head. "She didn't want me to pick her up for her shoot at 3. Did she seriously fire me because of that?!"

"She always hates it when we do things for her. Maybe she had enough?"

"What utter nonsense," his manager grumbled as Ren smirked beside him. Yukihito called her back but it went straight to voice mail.

"And now she isn't answering my calls! Ren, call her," Yukihito ordered making him sigh.

"What? Why should I call her?"

"So she'll answer," he replied as if it was the obvious answer. Ren didn't really think it was that obvious an answer, but he pulled out his phone and dialed her up.

It rang twice and then went to voice mail.

"What did you do?!" Yukihito instantly accused him.

"What?! Why are you shoving the blame on me? I did nothing." Ren defended himself as he put away his phone.

"No, you did something. The only time she ignores me is because she wants to ignore you," he told him. "What did you do?"

Ren rolled his eyes. "Nothing. We had dinner last time. Ate in my car. She went home. End of story."

Yukihito stood up and grabbed his suitcase. "It's never that simple with you. It's never that simple with her. Either way, fix it. I'm not going to have your dunce love life put a blemish on my record."

And thus started the current game of cat and mouse between Ren and Kyoko.

At first, he thought nothing of it. She needed time to absorb what she learned, and he didn't want to push it. In fact, he turned off the alarm when he got home and was determined not to bring it back up again. Not until she calmed down, and he could tell her. He could finally tell her that he felt exactly the same way. That they were in love with each other. The mere knowledge of that made Ren feeling very patient with the whole ordeal. He can wait because she loved him.

He let it go for three days and then sought her out. Yet the moment that he saw her, her eyes widened and she disappeared around the nearest corner. By the time he reached it, she was nowhere to be seen.

_Not yet._

A few days later, he ran into her accidentally. It was truly unexpected as he was walking into the exact same studio while Kyoko was walking out. He was wearing his ball cap and shades keeping him hidden from the public eye. He took a breath to speak to her when she suddenly screamed.

"OMG TSURUGA REN!"

Both men jumped back surprised and then they felt the prickle of fans find them. They looked to their left and right and saw people pointing and talking and then rushing towards them. Ren was able to get a glance at a guilty-looking Kyoko before she hightailed it out of there leaving him to the wolves.

He thought to instead call her. He called her three, four times within the next few days all of his calls went straight to voice mail. Now he was getting irritated.

The third time he saw her, he didn't approach. They were in LME and he saw her pink uniform first, but she didn't notice him. She was packing files into a box, grabbing folders out of a line of filing cabinets. From the looks of it, she has been at it for a while as there were a few boxes around her. He wanted to talk to her. Wondered if perhaps this time, she wouldn't run if he approached because she was working.

He stayed put. Five minutes passed watching her work and then another ten. It was when she picked up a filled box to cart it somewhere when she finally noticed him. She looked up and there he was. Their eyes met and Kyoko stopped moving. Her face filled with hesitation and unease. He didn't like it. Why, after all this time, was she looking at him like that?

Ren waved at her with a little smile, still not leaving his spot on the wall. He saw her give a weak shadow of her normal smile and with box still in hand wiggled three fingers of her right hand in a timid hello. She didn't move forward, nor did she move back. She simply stood there looking at him.

He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, never taking his eyes off of her. Here she did take a step back and he held his hands up. He wiggled his phone at her and pressed the home button until the voice command came on.

"Call Kyoko," he said but she could not hear him. Not with how far she was from him. He lifted the phone to his ear and a breath later her phone rang in her pocket making her jump and yelp loud enough for him to hear. She looked at him and again he gestured to his phone and waited.

Kyoko set the box down and quickly took out her phone. The caller ID told her it was him, he told her it was him, yet she answered it as if it was still a question, "Hello?"

"Hi." His deep rich voice traveled down the hallway and into her ear as if he was right in front of her.

"How are you?" he asked without waiting for her to greet him. She looked up at him, her brow furrowed showing her discomfort.

"I'm good," she lied and he could tell. "How… how are you?" she whispered to him.

"Are you angry at me?" He asked either ignoring her question or he didn't hear it.

"N…no," she stuttered.

"You don't sound so sure. If you are, tell me what I did, so I can fix it."

She looked away and he saw her struggle with an answer.

"Mogami-san," he called out to her when she didn't answer. "Stay there. Don't move." She looked up at him and saw him lift his weight off the wall to walk towards her.

"Stop," she cried out to him through the phone.

He did but then asked, "Why?"

"I can't. Please, not here," she pleaded and he watched her looked down. Her voice sounded like it was close to tears.

"Mogami-san, please tell me what's wrong?"

"Could we please do this another time? Another place? Please?" she begged and he nodded.

"Okay. Tonight. I'll pick you up at Daruma-ya's."

"What time?" she asked softly and he shook his head.

"Tonight. I'll be waiting," he told her and then hung up. Kyoko watched him tuck his phone back into his pocket. He waved bye to her and then turned to walk down the hallway.

It felt like hours before Kyoko was able to breathe again. Throughout the rest of the day, she kept looking around expecting him to be there, like some ghost haunting her. The LoveMe task took much longer than anticipated. For one because she was distracted, beyond normal distracted, as she looked around every dark corner taking the boxes to storage. Secondly, because she didn't want to go home tonight.

It was only 4 when she was done and the LoveMe task box was empty. She changed out of her uniform and into her street clothes and thought about what she could do or where she could go to delay the inevitable but came up empty.

She walked down the busy lobby dejected and accidentally bumped into someone. She apologized profusely and looked around. It was 4 and the day was still busy and fully active.

_It's only four, surely, he is still working. He said tonight, so I have time. _She perked up knowing that he wouldn't be there right now. There is no way that Tsuruga Ren would be off right now. He never ends his day before 6. She made her way to the bike rack as she planned. _I'll get home, pack an overnight bag and call Moko-san. I'll ask her for a sleepover. If she can't do it, maybe Amamiya-san would be willing to. Once I'm safe, I'll send him a text and… where is my bike?_

Kyoko looked at the bike rack frowning as she searched. She could have sworn that she put it here. From behind her a loud whistle blew and she turned.

Ren was there, leaning against his car with her bike in the trunk of his car strapped in.

"Of course," she grumbled and took out her phone to turn it off.

She didn't care if she got in trouble for it. She truly didn't. It was better to get yelled at by the president than it would be for Ren to find out about her crush. With a deep breath, she walked forward and bowed once she reached him.

"I'm sorry," she told him, but he didn't reply in the way she had hoped.

"Let's go," he stated and opened the car door for her. Kyoko obediently entered the car.

The ride was quiet, uncomfortably so. Ren was concentrating on the road, allowing her to steal glances at him. He was still upset. Upset that she ignored him, upset that she blew his cover, upset that she was going to ditch him.

_Okay, so he doesn't know about that. _

She looked down at her legs and wished she wore something else. Something more armor-like and less summery. The loose-fitting ivory shorts were soft and breezy looking like a skirt. The top was a soft green button-up with a square neckline. She felt exposed, but then nothing she wore would have helped her with this situation.

They arrived at his condo and he escorted her up. By the time they got there, his mood had lessened to something more casual, but not yet warm and welcoming as normal.

"Would you like something to drink?" He asked her as he slipped off his shoes.

"Um, no. I'm okay," she stated not wanting to be here long enough for tea to seep or coffee to brew.

"Will you excuse me for a moment to get comfortable," he asked rhetorically but nodded. He gave her a small smile and walked towards his bedroom while removing his suit jacket.

Kyoko didn't want to take off her shoes. She didn't want to get comfortable or even leave the front door. She was preparing herself for the worst and that meant making a quick getaway. So when Ren re-entered his living room and looked towards the couch to find her, she wasn't there. He frowned and wasn't happy seeing her waiting at the front door.

"What are you doing?" he asked confused and walked towards her. Kyoko sighed and drank him in. He dressed down, casually wearing blue jeans and a red t-shirt. He looked good, and it wasn't fair. He always looked good.

Kyoko looked down and gripped the handles of her oversized bag tightly. "Could you…" she stopped and took a breath. "You know so… I mean… Just rip the band-aid off okay? Let's make this quick and easy and then I can go. You don't need to lessen the blow."

"Okay," he said and she visibly cringed. She waited for the blow. Waited for the verbal assault that would come, and told her heart to wait before breaking. _Wait until we get home. Wait._

Time ticked by and nothing was said. Her eyes were closed so Kyoko didn't see him take out his phone. He waited patiently for her to look up.

When she did, he was showing her the Love Alarm app.

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

She looked up at him and pretended not to understand.

"You actually downloaded it," she said hoping that she sounded surprised.

"Turn on your phone," he told her and she looked away.

"It is on," she lied and he told her so.

"It's not."

"Why are you doing this? Tell me what you want to say and let me go," she urged without looking at him.

"Turn on your phone," he ordered again.

"Fine," she snapped and dropped her purse. Squatting down, she riffled through her bag and got her phone out. "Here. Take it." She shoved it into his hand. "I don't understand why you need to do this. It's obvious that you found out, so say it! Tell me that I'm an idiot. Tell me that there is no way that you could ever…"

*Chime*

*Chime*

_Two rings?_

She looked up at him and he held out both phones out to her, but she didn't want to look. His face was high enough to where she didn't have to look down at the phones. She didn't have to read the screens that were pointed at her. Tears were already blurring her sight.

"This is a joke, right?"

Ren shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"Did it chime twice for you? Like someone on another floor triggered it," she reasoned.

"Look," he told her and she shook her head, choosing to close her eyes instead. Silence again filled the room and tears were running down her cheeks. She wanted to leave, to end this torment that he was causing and simply leave, but again it happened.

*Chime*

*Chime*

She sobbed and blinked out the tears to look up at him, but he wasn't there. She looked up and saw him across the room looking at her with a phone in hand. He took a step back, looked at the phone and then took a step forward.

*Chime*

*Chime*

Kyoko took a shaky breath into her lungs at the sound. One chimed at her feet and one chimed in his hand. Again. he took a step back, hesitated, and stepped back in.

*Chime*

*Chime*

"Stop it," she whispered, but not loud enough for him to hear.

Step back, wait, step forward.

*Chime*

*Chime*

"Would you stop it," she shouted as her heart was about to burst.

"Not until you understand," he told her as he took a step back, waited for the heart to disappear and then stepped forward.

*Chime*

*Chime*

Kyoko shook her head, eyes tightly shut. "This is not a game!"

*Chime*

*Chime*

"No, it's not. So look at your phone and tell me what it says," he coaxed and finally, she moved. Crying, Kyoko bent down and lifted the phone. She had to blink a few times but found that it was hers and sobbed.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

She licked her lips and took a breath to speak but couldn't.

"Would you like me to read it? Mine says the same thing. Someone within a 10M radius loves you. One," he finished and then stepped back. They both looked down at the phone to see the heart disappear.

**No one within a 10M radius loves you.**

**0**

She watched it, waiting. When nothing happened, she looked up and he was watching her, waiting as well. She licked her lips and swallowed the lump in her throat. Closing her eyes, she took a large step forward, going from the door to the very edge of his entry before she would be forced to take off her shoes.

*Chime*

*Chime*

She sobbed as her phone chimed in her hand.

"Someone within a 10M radius loves you," Ren said again. He walked over to her and he placed his phone beside hers. They were identical.

**Someone within a 10M radius loves you.**

**1**

"How…" she started but couldn't finish. He smiled down at her.

"I couldn't believe it either. How did it know? How could it possibly know? But it kept ringing your phone. Every time I approached you, your phone rang. Even when I didn't realize you were there. I heard the distant ring and knew it was you because yours is the only one I could possibly trigger," he said with his voice rising in excitement.

"But every time I looked at my phone…" he let his voice drift off.

"It should have beeped. Every single time, it would have beeped. I was so afraid," she sniffed. "It was out of my control. You would have found out and I couldn't stop it."

"Kyoko," he called out to her and she gasped at the intimacy of her name from his lips. She looked away, looked down to hide the heat of her face rise up and give her away. He lifted his free hand and touched her chin, then raised her face slowly up until she met his beautiful loving brown eyes.

"Someone within 10-meters loves you," he said softly making her shake and tears fall. "Someone within 1-meter loves you," he amended and slowly leaned down. She froze in place. Her heart was hammering in her chest but she stopped breathing as his face got closer and closer. He was a hair's breadth away from kissing her when he spoke again.

"I love you," he breathed against her lips and kissed her.

All of the strength in her body drained out of her at that touch. Her phone crashed to the ground and then her knees gave out.

"Whoa," Ren called out and caught her, dropping his phone in the process.

He held her to him, his arm wrapping around her waist, his hand that held her chin secured her head against his chest and she heard his heart hammering against her ear. She took a deep, shaky breath.

"Your heart is racing," she said making him laugh softly.

"I know," he replied.

"Why?"

This time he pulled away, enough to look down at her face. "Because I just confessed to the girl that I've been in love with for a year now, and she hasn't responded yet."

She licked her lips as she looked up at him. "What do you want her to say?"

"The truth with her own words," he told her. She raised her hands up, her fingertips touching his chest and slowly gliding up to rest on his shoulders. She watched him close his eyes at the feel of her hand and blink open as she pulled herself up. He licked his lips in anticipation and she could feel the strength of his arm around her waist pulling her up, wanting to help.

The tip of her nose touched his first and she lightly nuzzled him. He smiled and let out a nervous laugh which only made her smile in kind.

"I'm in love with you," she confessed and before she could initiate the kiss, he crashed down into hers. Her feet left the floor as he kissed her. His lips soft and hot and wet against hers. The force of it was so strong that it made her open her mouth allowing him to slip the tip of his tongue between her lips. She moaned which surprised them both and made them pull away.

He smiled that breathtaking, lock shattering, heart-stealing smile of his at her, and she was suddenly airborne as Ren lifted her up and spun her around with a loud cheer!

"WAH!" She cried out and then laughed as they spun like a top. Joy. This was Joy.

Joy. Happy. Love.

He set her down on the back of the couch and she felt dizzy. Then he kissed her again and knew that the spinning wasn't the only thing that was making her feel light-headed. She was breathless when he pulled away.

"I have more good news for you," he said.

"I don't know what could possibly beat this," she replied honestly. He caressed the side of her face and she could have sworn she was purring at his touch.

"You can probably delete the Love Alarm app now," he told her.

She giggled and pouted playfully. "Maybe I don't want to anymore."

"Why is that?"

"How else will I know you love me?" she teased and then her eyes widened. The Emperor of the Night smiled wickedly down at her.

"I can think of many ways, and I promise I'll never let you forget."

"Carnivore," she muttered with a blush making him chuckle. She knew his way would be much better than any stupid LoveAlarm.


End file.
